NASA’s InSight lander detected the first likely marsquake in 2019.
The faint seismic event was recorded on April 6, 2019, InSight’s 128th Martian day, by its Seismic Experiment for Interior Structure, or SEIS, instrument. NASA described the signal as the first likely marsquake because it resembled a small internal seismic event rather than ordinary surface vibrations caused by wind or the lander’s machinery.
InSight landed in Elysium Planitia on November 26, 2018, with a mission focused on Mars’s deep interior. By measuring seismic waves, the spacecraft helped scientists investigate the planet’s crust, mantle, and core—much as earthquakes reveal Earth’s internal layers.
The word “likely” matters: the initial event was faint and not as unambiguous as later detections. InSight subsequently recorded many more seismic events, including stronger marsquakes. Pathfinder, Viking 2, and Phoenix were also Mars landers, but none made this pioneering seismic detection.