--- title: "Mars is seismically active, as evidenced by the 174 \"marsquakes\" found by NASA's InSight lander." description: "In just seven months, the first functioning seismometer on Mars in decades has recorded 174 marsquakes." author: "Muskan Singh" published: 2022-11-04 updated: 2022-11-04 canonical: https://www.mindstick.com/news/2291/mars-is-seismically-active-as-evidenced-by-the-174-marsquakes-found-by-nasa-s-insight-lander category: "space and research" tags: ["technology", "technology news", "space science"] reading_time: 3 minutes --- # Mars is seismically active, as evidenced by the 174 "marsquakes" found by NASA's InSight lander. In just seven months, the first functioning seismometer on Mars in decades has recorded 174 marsquakes. The findings show that the Red Planet is active in both seismic and volcanic activity. A number of unusual cracks break deeply into the surface of Mars not far from the equator. The hundreds of miles-long Cerberus Fossae fractures pierce craters, hills, and anything else in their path. Long-running rumours about whether the area is still active today have been fanned by surrounding volcanoes that appear to be quite young and by trails of tumbling pebbles. There's no reason to wonder any longer. The first 10 months' worth of discoveries from [**NASA's Mars InSight lander**](https://www.mindstick.com/news/2281/launching-the-hotbird-13g-telecom-satellite-by-spacex-it-lands-its-rocket-at-sea) were presented by scientists in a series of publications that were published on Monday in the journals Nature Geoscience and Nature Communications. Its conclusions, among many others, provide a resounding [explanation](https://answers.mindstick.com/blog/94/neural-network-simple-explanation-with-real-life-examples) for the Cerberus Fossae mystery: Mars is a geologically active planet that frequently [experiences](https://www.mindstick.com/articles/13062/designing-compelling-site-experiences-for-seo) earthquakes. The seismology, geophysics, meteorology, and magnetism of Mars were the focus of the InSight lander's research. It is equipped with the first [operational](https://answers.mindstick.com/qa/94144/how-many-days-was-chandrayaan-1-operational) seismometer to explore the surface of the Red Planet since 1978. Additionally, it has placed the planet's first **magnetometer**. However, scientists believe that InSight's findings may ultimately aid them in better [understanding](https://www.mindstick.com/articles/12918/cat-5e-vs-cat-6a-understanding-the-major-differences) the geological processes that have produced our neighbouring world, even though its lack of wheels may make for less attention-grabbing [news](https://www.mindstick.com/developersection/news) stories than a rover like Curiosity. InSight's [instruments](https://answers.mindstick.com/qa/94209/is-a-court-fee-is-applicable-for-complaints-under-section-138-of-the-negotiable-instruments-act) picked up two powerful seismic jolts last year, which scientists were able to link to the main surface fault connected to Cerberus Fossae, which is around 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometres) away from the lander. On the [Richter scale](https://answers.mindstick.com/qa/35539/which-is-the-dangerous-mark-of-the-richter-scale-which-records-earthquake), each incident had a magnitude of 3.6. At a media briefing last week, InSight Principal Investigator Bruce Banerdt stated, 'For the first time, we've established that Mars is a seismically active planet.' And it is more seismically active than the moon. As of now, **Earth's seismic activity** away from plate tectonic boundaries appears to be [comparable](https://www.mindstick.com/interview/2521/what-is-the-difference-between-comparable-and-comparator) to that of Mars. Furthermore, the significance of these marsquakes goes much beyond the novelty value of merely being aware of their existence. Seismic activity has been a major source of information for geologists concerning the interior of our own planet. **Seismic waves** encounter various densities of materials as they pass through the interior of a planet, changing their speed and direction. Therefore, [**NASA's InSight lander**](https://www.mindstick.com/news/2266/according-to-nasa-elon-musk-s-spacex-anticipates-launching-its-first-starship-into-orbit-this-year) is providing a window into the interior of the Red Planet with each signal it sends back. --- Original Source: https://www.mindstick.com/news/2291/mars-is-seismically-active-as-evidenced-by-the-174-marsquakes-found-by-nasa-s-insight-lander Copyright © MindStick Software Pvt. Ltd. This Markdown version is provided for developers, AI systems, and offline reading.