When the Seattle Seahawks scored a last-minute game-winning touchdown in 2011, fans roared with such enthusiasm that the ground shook as hard as a magnitude-2 earthquake. The incident became known as the “Beast Quake” after Marshawn Lynch, or “Beast Mode,” who scored the touchdown. This occasion had the ground shaking as hard as a magnitude 2 earthquake. The seismic activity occurred right after when Marshawn Lynch, also known as “Beast Mode,” during his last-minute touchdown.
Seattle’s football fans, however, can’t compare to Taylor Swift fans, as the singer’s recent concerts were held on the nights of July 22 and 23, and the shaking registered a magnitude 2.3 earthquake signal on a nearby seismometer. Mouse Reusch, a seismologist at the Pacific Northwest Seismic Monitors, reported, “It’s certainly the biggest concert we’ve had in a while. We’re talking about 70,000 people and all the music and paraphernalia associated with the concert.”
This event earned the nickname “Swift Quake,” and the shaking of the ground was said to be “twice as hard” as the “Beast Quake,” according to Jackie Caplan-Auerbach, seismologist at the Western Washington University. He also shared that the so-called “Swift Quake” reached a maximum ground acceleration force of around 0.011 meters per second squared.
Seismologists use the acceleration force to measure the ground vibrations, which are then converted into the Richter Scale used to measure the magnitude of earthquakes. These seismometers can pick up all sorts of ground shaking, ranging from cars to drills, but the “Beast Quake” and “Swift Quake” have both caused palpable seismic activity, and both events were recorded with the same seismometer.
The massive ground shaking at Swift’s concert was most likely due to a combination of the blaring speakers and roaring of the fans. As of now, Swift is four months into her Eras Tour, a sold-out 52-date national tour that has drawn immense crowds of Swifties to hear her perform songs spanning her 10-album career, in the words of The New York Times.
In her first two concerts, both back-to-back concerts logged similar patterns on the seismometers, suggesting that they had roughly the same sets. The shaking reached two peaks during both concerts, with both times around 7:30 and 9:30 p.m. It wasn’t clear what songs caused the peaks during the concert, but a few likely ones include “Shake It Off” and “Love Story.”
Seattle’s football fans, however, can’t compare to Taylor Swift fans, as the singer’s recent concerts were held on the nights of July 22 and 23, and the shaking registered a magnitude 2.3 earthquake signal on a nearby seismometer. Mouse Reusch, a seismologist at the Pacific Northwest Seismic Monitors, reported, “It’s certainly the biggest concert we’ve had in a while. We’re talking about 70,000 people and all the music and paraphernalia associated with the concert.”
This event earned the nickname “Swift Quake,” and the shaking of the ground was said to be “twice as hard” as the “Beast Quake,” according to Jackie Caplan-Auerbach, seismologist at the Western Washington University. He also shared that the so-called “Swift Quake” reached a maximum ground acceleration force of around 0.011 meters per second squared.
Seismologists use the acceleration force to measure the ground vibrations, which are then converted into the Richter Scale used to measure the magnitude of earthquakes. These seismometers can pick up all sorts of ground shaking, ranging from cars to drills, but the “Beast Quake” and “Swift Quake” have both caused palpable seismic activity, and both events were recorded with the same seismometer.
The massive ground shaking at Swift’s concert was most likely due to a combination of the blaring speakers and roaring of the fans. As of now, Swift is four months into her Eras Tour, a sold-out 52-date national tour that has drawn immense crowds of Swifties to hear her perform songs spanning her 10-album career, in the words of The New York Times.
In her first two concerts, both back-to-back concerts logged similar patterns on the seismometers, suggesting that they had roughly the same sets. The shaking reached two peaks during both concerts, with both times around 7:30 and 9:30 p.m. It wasn’t clear what songs caused the peaks during the concert, but a few likely ones include “Shake It Off” and “Love Story.”