{"id":671928,"date":"2026-11-01T17:06:15","date_gmt":"2026-11-01T17:06:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/671928\/"},"modified":"2026-11-01T17:06:15","modified_gmt":"2026-11-01T17:06:15","slug":"did-the-viking-2-lander-detect-marsquakes-in-1976","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/671928\/","title":{"rendered":"Did the Viking 2 lander detect marsquakes in 1976?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Marsquakes:NASA\u2019s Viking 2<\/a> landed on Mars in 1976. It detected 2 possible marsquakes, on sols<\/a> 53 and 80. Decades later, NASA\u2019s InSight<\/a> lander detected nearly 1,000 marsquakes, some of them in the same region as the Viking 2 events. Image via NASA<\/a>\/ JPL-Caltech.<\/p>\n

Mars has marsquakes, the equivalent of Earth\u2019s earthquakes. They show this neighboring planet is still seismically active.<\/p>\n

NASA\u2019s Viking 2 lander detected two possible marsquakes back in 1976. But they weren\u2019t confirmed at the time.<\/p>\n

From 2018 to 2022, NASA\u2019s InSight lander detected nearly 1,000 marsquakes. A new analysis shows that some of them were from the same region as the 1976 Viking 2 detections.<\/p>\n

Science news, night sky events and beautiful photos, all in one place. Click here to subscribe to our free daily newsletter.<\/a><\/p>\n

Marsquakes in the same place decades apart<\/p>\n

The Viking 2 lander \u2014 4th spacecraft from Earth ever to land on Mars \u2014 touched down on September 3, 1976. It landed in a region we earthlings call Utopia Planitia. Viking 2\u2019s job was to search for signs of Martian life (it didn\u2019t conclusively find any). It did carry a seismometer<\/a>, with the hope it might detect marsquakes. But the instrument \u2014 mounted on the top deck of the lander \u2014 was susceptible to the Martian wind. And it was hard for scientists to separate true seismology from the wind\u2019s vibrational \u201cnoise.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, Viking 2 did detect what scientists believed were two small marsquakes on the plains of Utopia Planitia. It felt them on sol 53 and sol 80 of the mission. A sol<\/a> is a Martian day, slightly longer than an Earth day.<\/p>\n

Fast forward some four decades. Now, another Mars spacecraft \u2014 NASA\u2019s InSight<\/a> lander, which set down in Elysium Planitia in 2018 \u2014 has detected nearly 1,000 marsquakes in the same approximate region where Viking 2 landed in 1976. Has InSight confirmed Viking 2\u2019s marsquakes? Not exactly. But by comparing the data from the two missions, scientists have gained new clues to the seismic history of Mars.<\/p>\n

The researchers published<\/a> their peer-reviewed<\/a> findings in AGU Advances on September 30, 2026.<\/p>\n

And Matthew R. Francis wrote<\/a> about the new findings for Eos on October 21, 2026.<\/p>\n

\"Artist'sArtist\u2019s concept of NASA\u2019s Mars InSight lander. It touched down on Mars on November 26, 2018. Image via NASA<\/a>\/ JPL\/ Caltech.<\/p>\n

Comparing the data<\/p>\n

Viking 2\u2019s landing site in Utopia Planitia \u2014 and InSight\u2019s landing site in Elysium Planitia \u2014 are both in Mars\u2019 northern lowlands. They are geographically adjacent regions, so similar that scientists and science journalists often refer to the Elysium-Utopia basin. <\/p>\n

In the decades in between Viking 2 and InSight, scientists have pondered whether Mars was still geologically active. Now we know the planet does still experience marsquakes, the Martian equivalent of earthquakes.<\/p>\n

Wanbo Xiao<\/a> at Peking University in China is the lead author of the new InSight study. Xiao and his team compared the data from the old Viking 2 mission to the more recent data from InSight.<\/p>\n

While one of the two detections by Viking 2 was dubious (probably because of the wind), the second one appeared more likely to be an actual marsquake. <\/p>\n

Of course, though, Viking 2 had just one tiny seismometer, on its deck. And InSight was designed specifically to look for marsquakes or other seismic activity below the Martian surface. Its seismometer was more advanced and placed directly on the ground. The paper states<\/a>:<\/p>\n

For nearly 50 years, scientists debated whether the candidate seismic signals recorded by Viking 2 reflected true Martian tectonics, considering limitations of the Viking instrument. Decades later, the substantial marsquakes detected by the InSight mission revealed a clearer seismic context of the planet. Here we reconstruct the original Viking seismic workflow and reexamine its candidate events, recorded on sol 53 and sol 80, using modern knowledge from InSight.<\/p>\n

\"RoboticView larger<\/a>. | Illustration depicting NASA\u2019s InSight lander, with a cutaway view of the subsurface of Mars. Image via PGP\/ Nicolas Sarter\/ Jet Propulsion Laboratory\/ NASA<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Marsquake or meteorite impact?<\/p>\n

Viking 2\u2019s sol 80 event was in the same region in Mars\u2019 northern plains as the InSight detections. But \u2014 even after all these decades \u2014 it\u2019s still not clear if it was an actual marsquake. It\u2019s possible that a meteorite impact caused the seismic waves. As the paper notes:<\/p>\n

The sol 80 event possibly located in the same northern-plains source region inferred for InSight seasonal marsquakes, although a distant tectonic marsquake or a meteorite impact remain as alternative explanations. The faster decay of the sol 80 event than typical InSight marsquakes could imply lateral variations of structural energy absorption in the Martian subsurface. <\/p>\n

More broadly, this study shows how a historical planetary data set can gain new scientific implications when revisited using later mission data.<\/p>\n

So what is the explanation for the differences between the Viking 2 data and the InSight data? The researchers conclude that there are probably several reasons. As they mentioned in the paper:<\/p>\n

Fifty years after Viking 2 returned the first seismic observations from Mars, we reconstruct its unique seismic workflow and reassess the most credible candidate event, the sol 80 signal, using knowledge gained from the InSight mission. Our analysis reveals that the apparent contrast between Viking and InSight seismic observations primarily reflects differences in instrument response, sampling strategy, and the distinct spectral characteristics of Martian seismic events, rather than a change in Martian activity alone.<\/p>\n

Marsquakes offer clues to seismic history on Mars<\/p>\n

The sol 80 event in particular provides more clues to the history of seismic activity on Mars. As the paper explains:<\/p>\n

The Viking 2 sol 80 event provides new constraints on Mars\u2019 seismic history. Its independently inferred location overlaps the broad northern-plains region associated with InSight seasonal marsquakes, suggesting a possible long-lived active region outside Cerberus Fossae. However, alternative origins, including a distant tectonic marsquake analogous to InSight BB [broadband] events or a meteorite impact analogous to VF [very high frequency] events, cannot be excluded.<\/p>\n

\"SmallView larger<\/a>. | NASA\u2019s InSight lander took this image of its seismometer<\/a> on sol 96 (March 5, 2019). InSight detected many marsquakes in the subsurface but not aquifers. If they exist, they are probably too deep for detection with a regular radar. Image via NASA<\/a>\/ JPL-Caltech.<\/p>\n

Mars\u2019 \u2018Grand Canyon\u2019 and others also still active<\/p>\n

Valles Marineris. Scientists with Columbia University and Imperial College London just reported<\/a> this month that the so-called Mars\u2019 Grand Canyon \u2014 Valles Marineris \u2014 also is still experiencing marsquakes. That data came from the InSight lander, too. Valles Marineris is located south and southwest of both Utopia Planitia and Elysium Planitia. It straddles the Martian equator and stretches more than 2,500 miles (4,000 km), nine times longer than the Grand Canyon on Earth.<\/p>\n

Cerberus Fossae. This is Mars\u2019 primary seismic \u201chotspot.\u201d It\u2019s located east of InSight\u2019s landing site and is a system of massive, young parallel fissures and faults running through the crust. InSight traced hundreds of marsquakes directly to magma movement, localized faulting, and active stress release in this region.<\/p>\n

Tharsis Volcanic Region. Other distant, low-frequency quakes were traced back toward the Tharsis rise \u2014 the vast volcanic plateau home to Olympus Mons<\/a> and the three massive Tharsis Montes volcanoes \u2014 indicating deep mantle activity or residual cooling under the volcanoes.<\/p>\n

In addition, InSight recorded several seismic signals that appeared to be non-tectonic \u201cimpact quakes\u201d caused by meteoroid strikes. Mars orbiters confirmed these by spotting fresh, newly formed impact craters in regions like Amazonis Planitia and Cerberus Fossae.<\/p>\n

\"HugeView larger<\/a>. | Artist\u2019s concept of the view over Valles Marineris<\/a>, aka the Grand Canyon of Mars. Researchers have found new evidence for an ancient Mars ocean within the canyon. Still-visible deltas show that rivers once emptied into this alien ocean along an ancient shoreline, including in Coprates Chasma<\/a> in the southeastern part of the canyon system. Image via Kevin Gill\/ Flickr<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Bottom line: New analysis shows that two possible marsquakes detected by Viking 2 were in the same region as nearly 1,000 others detected by the InSight lander decades later.<\/p>\n

Source: Fifty Years Later: Revisiting Viking 2 Seismic Signals Through InSight<\/a><\/p>\n

Via Eos<\/a><\/p>\n

Read more:<\/p>\n

Marsquakes might explain Mars\u2019 north-south hemisphere differences<\/a><\/p>\n

Marsquakes reveal red planet\u2019s deep secrets<\/a><\/p>\n

InSight Lander reveals 1st marsquakes on Mars<\/a><\/p>\n

Paul Scott Anderson
\n View Articles<\/a><\/p>\n

About the Author:<\/p>\n

Paul Scott Anderson has had a passion for space exploration that began when he was a child when he watched Carl Sagan\u2019s Cosmos. He studied English, writing, art and computer\/publication design in high school and college. He later started his blog The Meridiani Journal in 2005, which was later renamed Planetaria. He also later started the blog Fermi Paradoxica, about the search for life elsewhere in the universe.
\n
\nWhile interested in all aspects of space exploration, his primary passion is planetary science and SETI. In 2011, he started writing about space on a freelance basis with Universe Today. He has also written for SpaceFlight Insider and AmericaSpace and has also been published in The Mars Quarterly. He also did some supplementary writing for the iOS app Exoplanet.
\n
\nHe has been writing for EarthSky since 2018, and also assists with proofing and social media.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NASA\u2019s Viking 2 landed on Mars in 1976. It detected 2 possible marsquakes, on sols 53 and 80.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":671929,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[61,60,82,247],"class_list":["post-671928","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-science","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-science","tag-space"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/671928","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=671928"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/671928\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/671929"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=671928"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=671928"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=671928"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}