Moonquakes: testament to lunar ordeal

Subject: Science and technology

Section: Space technology

What are Moonquakes?

An earthquake is caused when tectonic plates shift. But quakes themselves aren’t restricted to the earth.
Small tremors have also been detected on the moon. But they are not because of tectonic plates.
Instead, the moon is groaning from extreme temperature differences– from 121^o to -133^ocelsius- of 250^ocelsius. The resulting strain leads to seismic activities called the moonquakes.
They can also occur due to meteors striking the lunar surface.
Researchers found that the Apollo 17 lunar lander module, launched in 1972, may also have triggered some tremors.

Marsquakes and its cause:

Mars does not have tectonic plates, and its crust is a giant plate.
Marsquakes are caused due to stresses that cause rock fractures or faults in its crust.
This Marsquake is estimated to have hit magnitude 5 on the scale used on Earth.