The strongest earthquake on record has yet to leave any traces on the surface of Mars, scientists say. The earth vibrates for 5 minutes when an earthquake occurs. Scientists have reported that in 2022, there was a continuous earthquake on Mars for 6 hours. A tremor in the earth is called an earthquake or an earthquake. This vibration occurring on the same planet Mars is called Marsquake. An international team of scientists led by the University of Oxford has revealed the source of the largest seismic event ever recorded on Mars. The research, published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, completely rules out the possibility of a meteorite impact. Instead, it has been suggested that the vibration is more likely to be caused by massive tectonic forces in the Martian crust. The seismic event, known as 'S1222a’, had a magnitude of 4.7 and shook the Martian surface for at least six hours. It was discovered by NASA’s Inside lander on May 4, 2022.
Given the similarity of its vibration signal to previous tremors caused by meteorite impacts, the team initially suspected the impact of this event and began a search by international space agencies for a new crater. Although Mars is smaller in size compared to Earth, it has the same land mass as it lacks oceans. To survey the 144 million square kilometer area, Dr. Benjamin Fernando enlisted the help of the European Space Agency, the China National Space Agency, the Indian Space Research Organization and the United Arab Emirates Space Agency. This is the first project where all Mars orbiters have collaborated on a single project.
During the mission, InSight, co-designed by the University of Oxford, recorded at least eight Maersk earthquake events caused by meteorite impacts. If S1222a formed from an impact, the resulting crater would be expected to be at least 300 m in diameter. But after months of searching, no new craters were discovered on Mars.
The team concluded that the phenomenon was caused by the release of enormous tectonic forces in Mars’ interior, suggesting that the planet behaves more seismically than previously thought. „We still think that there is no active plate tectonics on Mars today, so this event could have been caused by the release of pressure within the Martian crust,” Dr Fernando said. The study’s findings could have significant implications for future human life on Mars. „One day, this information may help us understand where it is safe for humans to live on Mars and where it is not!” Finance Minister Fernando said. International collaboration highlights the importance of having a variety of instruments on Mars. S1222a will be one of the last events recorded by InSight before its mission ends in December 2022. The team is now applying knowledge from this study to future work, including the Moon and Saturn’s moon Titan.