Mars Just Got Hit By MASSSIVE Earthquake

Yes, you read that headline correctly.

The Planet Mars was just reportedly hit by a  massive 5.0 earthquake.

NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory reported that the earthquake was detected by a  robot on Mars.

NASA’s in their press release stated that it was the biggest earthquake ever on a planet other than Earth.

Felt that one‼️

After more than three years of listening to the soft rumbles of Mars, I just felt by far my biggest “marsquake” yet: looks like about magnitude 5. My team is studying the data to learn more. Science rewards patience!

More details: https://t.co/DKVy8tUrxU pic.twitter.com/bExr13Lkvw

— NASA InSight (@NASAInSight) May 9, 2022

The @NASAInSight lander detected its largest quake yet! On May 4, InSight’s highly sensitive seismometer observed an estimated magnitude 5 marsquake, adding to its catalog of more than 1,300 quakes detected since it landed in November 2018. https://t.co/QXViX6bPQ9 pic.twitter.com/dsgVC1rOrq

— NASA JPL (@NASAJPL) May 9, 2022

Vice had these details to add:

A robot on Mars has detected the biggest earthquake ever felt on another planet, a Martian tremor that reached a magnitude of 5 on the Richter scale, according to a statement issued on Monday from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). The record-breaking “marsquake” not only demonstrates geological activity on Mars, but also opens a window into the mysterious interior of the red planet.

The quake was captured by NASA’s InSight mission, a lander that touched down on Mars in November 2018. InSight is equipped with a sensitive component called the Seismic Experiment for Interior Structure (SEIS), which is the first seismometer ever deployed on an extraterrestrial world.

Designed and built by France’s National Center for Space Studies, which is the nation’s governmental space agency, SEIS has recorded more than 1,300 marsquakes since it began operating some three years ago.

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However, none has come close to matching the intensity of the magnitude 5 “monster quake,” as JPL described it, that shook Mars last Wednesday, May 4. On Earth, this magnitude would be classified as a common medium-sized event, somewhat similar to a quake that struck Namibia last month, but on Mars, this strength is much more rare. The previous record-holder, which occurred in August 2021, reached a magnitude of 4.2, making it just a sixth of the strength of the recent quake on the logarithmic Richter scale.

Magnitude 5 marsquake! https://t.co/alhRMmc5CM

— Planetary Society (@exploreplanets) May 9, 2022

NASA released these details on the quake:

Estimated to be magnitude 5, the quake is the biggest ever detected on another planet.

NASA’s InSight Mars lander has detected the largest quake ever observed on another planet: an estimated magnitude 5 temblor that occurred on May 4, 2022, the 1,222nd Martian day, or sol, of the mission. This adds to the catalog of more than 1,313 quakes InSight has detected since landing on Mars in November 2018. The largest previously recorded quake was an estimated magnitude 4.2 detected Aug. 25, 2021.

InSight was sent to Mars with a highly sensitive seismometer, provided by France’s Centre National d’Études Spatiales (CNES), to study the deep interior of the planet. As seismic waves pass through or reflect off material in Mars’ crust, mantle, and core, they change in ways that seismologists can study to determine the depth and composition of these layers. What scientists learn about the structure of Mars can help them better understand the formation of all rocky worlds, including Earth and its Moon.