How many moonquakes are there per year?
Isabella Bartlett
Updated on January 20, 2026
detected between 600 and 3,000 moonquakes during each year of their operation, though most of these seismic events were very small. The ground noise on the lunar surface is low compared with that of the Earth, so that the seismographs could be operated at very high magnifications.
seismographs
seismograph, instrument that makes a record of seismic waves caused by an earthquake, explosion, or other Earth-shaking phenomenon.
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How many moonquakes are there?
More than 7000 individual deep moonquakes were recorded, originating from more than 250 of these nests, which are situated at depths between 700 and 1100 km.How often do moonquakes happen?
Deep moonquakes happen extremely often, typically on a cycle of roughly 27 days, and occur nearly 700 km below the surface of the moon. Most believe that these are caused by the tidal pull of Earth on the moon.Are there such things as moonquakes?
Moonquakes – as they are known on the moon – are produced as a result of meteoroids hitting the surface or by the gravitational pull of the Earth squeezing and stretching the moon's interior, in a similar way to the moon's tidal pull on Earth's oceans.What are the four types of moonquakes?
There are at least four kinds of moonquake:
- Deep moonquakes (~700 km below the surface, probably tidal in origin)
- Meteorite impact vibrations.
- Thermal moonquakes (the frigid lunar crust expands when sunlight returns after the two-week lunar night)
- Shallow moonquakes (50-220 kilometers below the surface)