Earth Sciences

A strong quake in the last year of the NASA Mars InSight mission, enabled researchers at ETH Zurich to determine the global thickness and density of the planet's crust. On average, the Martian crust much thicker than the Earth’s or the Moon’s crust and the planet’s main source of heat is radioactive.

ETH Zurich researcher Luca Dal Zilio offers an insightful summary of the recent earthquakes in Turkey and Syria, shedding light on the complex nature of this event. He discusses the lessons that can be drawn from it to better understand and prepare for future seismic occurrences in the region.

The Swiss Seismological Service at ETH Zurich has just introduced the first seismic risk model for Switzerland. It shows the potential impact of earthquakes on people and buildings in the country.

Life has existed on Earth for billions of years. Stabilising mechanisms have helped our planet remain habitable to this day.

Nobel laureate and astrophysicist Didier Queloz and earth scientist Cara Magnabosco on the origin of life on Earth, complex life beyond our planet, and the inevitable end of every life.

Following two large meteorite impacts on Mars, researchers have observed, for the first time, seismic waves propagating along the surface of a planet other than Earth. The data from the marsquakes was recorded by NASA’s InSight lander and analysed at ETH Zurich in collaboration with the InSight Science Team. It provides new insights into the structure of the Martian crust.