Seattle: Taylor Swift fans are bringing the house down with their dancing, and causing seismic activity while at it. According to seismologist Jackie Caplan-Auerbach, fans who attended Taylor Swift’s Eras Concert in Seattle on July 22 and 23 danced so hard that they caused seismic activity equivalent of a 2.3 magnitude earthquake.
“I grabbed the data from both nights of the concert and quickly noticed they were clearly the same pattern of signals,” Caplan-Auerbach told CNN. “If I overlay them on top of each other, they’re nearly identical.”
The “Swift-Quake,” as it is now being called, has drawn comparison to the famous “Beast Quake” of 2011 when Seattle Seahawk fans went wild cheering at an incredible touchdown. Both were detected on the same local seismometer, says Caplan-Auerbach, a geology professor at Western Washington University.
The so-called “Swift Quake” recorded a maximum ground acceleration of roughly 0.011 meters per second squared, said Jackie Caplan-Auerbach, a seismologist at Western Washington University.
Seismologists use acceleration to measure ground vibrations, which are then converted to the more conventional Richter scale, the common measurement for earthquakes.
Seismometers can pick up ground vibrations of all types — including from cars and stampeding cattle — but the magnitude of the “Swift Quake” has drawn comparisons to the pro football “Beast Quake” of 2011. That seismic activity was triggered when Seattle Seahawks fans roared in celebration following a last-minute touchdown by Marshawn Lynch, the running back whose nickname is “Beast Mode.”
The Seattle leg of Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour took place at Lumens Field. Matt Breidenthal, director of engineering at the architecture and engineering firm HOK, told USA TODAY that it is normal for stadiums and large venues to shake when there are a lot of people inside.
