Largest quakes ever recorded on Mars could reveal more about the Red Planet’s interior

One of the record ‘marsquakes’ described as being ‘unlike any other event previously observed’, writes Vishwam Sankaran

Nasa’s InSight lander (NASA/JPL-Caltech)

Nasa has reported the two largest quakes ever recorded on Mars, and scientists say studying them “will be instrumental in furthering our understanding” of the planet.

A seismometer put on the Red Planet by the space agency’s InSight lander recorded the two largest so-called marsquakes ever, of magnitude 4.2 and 4.1. The events have been dubbed S0976a and S1000a, in a study published inThe Seismic Record on 22 April.

This is the first time waves from marsquakes have been spotted by the InSight lander mission, which reached the Martian surface in November 2018.