Small Earthquakes on Mars

Small Earthquakes on Mars, No One Hurt, Many Interested

It is reported HERE that NASA's InSight probe has detected earthquakes on Mars.

The sound of the first detected Marsquake, 7 April 2019, speeded up 60 times. In this extract, there is first noise from the local wind, then the seismic event itself, and the spacecraft’s robotic arm as it moves to take pictures.

The best guess for the location of the largest quakes (less than 4 on the Richter scale, so quite small by Earth's standards) is the Cerberus Fossae.

600 km wide region of Mars, with the fractures known as Cerberos Fossae running diagonally from westnorthwest to eastsoutheast. ESA/DLR/FU Berline (G Neukum)

Mars does not have plate tectonics so these quakes are the result of Mars's crust experiencing stresses, caused by local deformation, leading to fractures similar to what occurs in earthquakes in the interiors of Earth’s continents – well away from plate boundaries.