In The Month Of Alignment, Shallow Moon Earthquakes Continue To Occur

The moon shrinks and creates earthquakes (photo: dock. NASA)

JAKARTA Researchers at the United States Aeronautics and Space Agency (NASA) continue to observe the moon actively. This is done to support the running of the Artemis exploration program.

Based on the results of a recent study using the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) camera, the researchers discovered a contraction style that broke the lunar crust and made the natural satellite experience a shrinkage.

According to NASA, this shrinkage occurred because the lunar interior cooling was still hot and due to the tidal force on Earth. As a result of this contraction, the earth's crustal thrust or fracture was formed and caused a strong moonquake.

Our modeling shows that shallow moonquakes capable of producing strong ground shaking in the south polar region may result from slip events in existing faults or the formation of new thrust fractures, said Tom Wakes researcher.

With these findings, NASA can estimate the location or stability of the post to protect astronauts. The reason is, fractures of young impetus, active potential, and the potential for the formation of new faults could hinder exploration on the Moon.

So far, the researchers have detected the strongest shallow moonquakes in the polar region of the moon. The LRO cameras also detected several other areas susceptible to regolite landslides just due to mild seismic shocks.

Wakes' colleague Renee Weber said they would expand measurements to look for new seismic data. This will help researchers avoid seismic hazards in various lunar regions.

To better understand the seismic hazards posed by future human activity on the Moon, we need new seismic data, not only at the South Pole, but globally, "explained Weber.