After a voyage lasting a good six months and covering some 485 million kilometres, NASA’s InSight lander is set to touch down on Mars on 26 November 2018. The landing promises to be a nail-biting spectacle: only if countless processes work together seamlessly will researchers from the Swiss Seismological Service (SED) at ETH Zurich and the Institute of Geophysics be able to gather seismic data that will reveal more about the interior of the Red Planet.

Before landing, InSight will turn so that its heat shield enters the atmosphere first. The shield protects the lander from temperatures of up to 1,500°C. Once the lander has entered the atmosphere, its parachute will deploy, slowing its initial fall velocity (385 m/s) for landing. The lander’s descent engines will fire over the last 100 metres, providing reverse thrust. A seismometer will be positioned as soon as the lander has touched down safely. The seismometer’s data-collection and control electronics were developed at ETH Zurich, and the seismic measurements it records will be analysed by seismologists from the SED and the Institute of Geophysics.

Am Samstag, dem 3. November 2018 hat sich um 01:20 Uhr (Lokalzeit) südlich von Martigny (VS) in einer Tiefe von ca. 10 km ein Erdbeben der Magnitude 2.9 ereignet.

Die Erschütterungen waren im Unterwallis, vorwiegend im Gebiet um Martigny, bis Saxon und Collonges gut zu spüren. Zudem haben auch im unteren Rhonetal bis Aigle einige Personen das Beben wahrgenommen. Dies aufgrund seiner Bodenbeschaffenheit (weiche Sedimente) und der damit verbundenen Verstärkung der Erdbebenwellen. Bei einem Erdbeben dieser Stärke sind in der Regel keine Schäden zu erwarten.

How can induced earthquakes occurring when deep geothermics are used, best be monitored, predicted and controlled? The Swiss Seismological Service (SED) at ETH Zurich is addressing this question within the framework of the COSEISMIQ project (COntrol SEISmicity and Manage Induced earthQuakes), which has just been launched near Reykjavik. In the wake of the induced earthquakes in Basel and St. Gallen, finding answers to these questions is important for all present and future geothermal energy sites, especially for Switzerland.

Together with Reykjavik Energy, GeoEnergie Suisse and scientists from Iceland, Ireland and Germany, 'adaptive traffic-light systems' will be tested under realistic conditions for the first time. The aim is to develop a system that can learn in real time and takes account of new data and local circumstances and events to minimise the risks of induced earthquakes while maximising energy extraction.

On 28 September 2018, several strong earthquakes shook the island of Sulawesi in Indonesia. The strongest earthquake, with a magnitude of 7.5, triggered a tsunami and, according to knowledge to date, claimed more than a thousand lives.

The earthquake occurred about 80 kilometres north of the provincial capital Palu on the coast at a depth of about 10 km. The quake was triggered by a sudden horizontal movement of rocks along the Palu-Koro fault. The north-south running fault through the Bay of Palu is similar in type to the San Andreas fault in California. Initial analyses indicate that the rock on both sides of the fault have shifted several metres in relation to each other in the area North of the town of Palu.

In Switzerland, earthquakes are the natural hazard with the greatest potential for causing damage. They cannot currently be prevented or reliably predicted. But, thanks to extensive research, much is now known about how often and how intensely the earth could shake at a given location in the future. Consult a variety of different maps using our interactive web tool to find out how likely certain earthquakes are in Switzerland.

Learn more

The Swiss Seismological Service (SED) at ETH Zurich is the federal agency responsible for monitoring earthquakes in Switzerland and its neighboring countries and for assessing Switzerland’s seismic hazard. When an earthquake happens, the SED informs the public, authorities, and the media about the earthquake’s location, magnitude, and possible consequences. The activities of the SED are integrated in the federal action plan for earthquake precaution.

Learn more