Taylor Swift fans really “shook it off” during the Eras tour in Seattle last week, creating a seismic event. Seismologists recorded an earthquake that measured a whopping magnitude of 2.3, the score just 0.2 away from earthquakes known to cause minor damage.
The so-called “Swift Quake” was caused almost entirely by Swifties with incredible rhythm, jumping along with the stage’s blaring sound system. The dancing of 144,000 fans created a signal that surpassed the infamous “Beast Quake” of 2011, which was created from a pro-football game. The Swifties’ enthusiasm added about 0.3 more magnitude to the seismometer, which was “more than half” the impact of the Beast Quake.
But it wasn’t only large, it stayed large continuously throughout the entire concert, reaching peaks during fan favorites “Love Story,” “Bad Blood,” and, of course, “Shake it Off.”
However, though this may sound record-breaking, there are two crucial sidenotes. While the concert did create an exceptionally powerful reverberation, Jackie Caplan-Auerbach, a seismologist at Western Washington University, said it is important to understand that seismometers pick up signals from “anything that shakes the ground,” including cars, trains, and even wind sometimes.
Moreover, and perhaps more earth-shattering (pun intended), is the fact that this phenomenon was not unique to Taylor Swift regarding music concerts. Though they weren’t nearly as strong, a recent Weeknd concert produced similar signals, and seismologists are looking forward to Beyonce’s upcoming concert on September 14th in the same concert stadium.
Needless to say, Taylor Swift has taken the world, the economy, and now the earth, by storm. And her fans continue to support her “All Too Well.”
The so-called “Swift Quake” was caused almost entirely by Swifties with incredible rhythm, jumping along with the stage’s blaring sound system. The dancing of 144,000 fans created a signal that surpassed the infamous “Beast Quake” of 2011, which was created from a pro-football game. The Swifties’ enthusiasm added about 0.3 more magnitude to the seismometer, which was “more than half” the impact of the Beast Quake.
But it wasn’t only large, it stayed large continuously throughout the entire concert, reaching peaks during fan favorites “Love Story,” “Bad Blood,” and, of course, “Shake it Off.”
However, though this may sound record-breaking, there are two crucial sidenotes. While the concert did create an exceptionally powerful reverberation, Jackie Caplan-Auerbach, a seismologist at Western Washington University, said it is important to understand that seismometers pick up signals from “anything that shakes the ground,” including cars, trains, and even wind sometimes.
Moreover, and perhaps more earth-shattering (pun intended), is the fact that this phenomenon was not unique to Taylor Swift regarding music concerts. Though they weren’t nearly as strong, a recent Weeknd concert produced similar signals, and seismologists are looking forward to Beyonce’s upcoming concert on September 14th in the same concert stadium.
Needless to say, Taylor Swift has taken the world, the economy, and now the earth, by storm. And her fans continue to support her “All Too Well.”
