WASHINGTON—On May 4, 2022, NASA’s InSight lander detected the largest quake yet recorded on Mars, one with a 4.7 magnitude—fairly modest by Earth standards but strong for our planetary neighbor.
Given Mars lacks the geological process called plate tectonics that generates earthquakes on our planet, scientists suspected a meteorite impact had caused this marsquake. But a search for an impact crater came up empty, leading scientists to conclude that this quake was caused by tectonic activity—rumbling in the planet’s interior—and giving them a deeper understanding about what makes Mars shake, rattle, and roll.
