Taylor Swift’s ‘Eras’ Tour Shakes Up Magnitude 2.3 Earthquake In Seattle
If there’s one thing Taylor Swift has been doing on her ‘Eras’ tour, it’s breaking records. Last month, the singer held a record-breaking concert in Pittsburgh when over 73,117 fans showed up at the show, marking the largest ever audience in the stadium’s history.
Weeks ago, satellite pictures captured of the shows in Denver depicted just how many concert-goers were lined up to see Swift, with BlackSky estimating that 7,200 cars were in the parking lots as her popularity was made “apparent from space.”
Taylor Swift fans at the Seattle shows of the Eras Tour caused seismic activity equivalent of a 2.3 magnitude earthquake, according to seismologist. pic.twitter.com/kiQgSEhcjo
— Pop Base (@PopBase) July 28, 2023
Now, it appears the songwriter’s latest stop at Lumen Field Stadium in Seattle has caused an actual seismic shift—registering activity equal to that of a 2.3 magnitude earthquake for hours.
Jackie Caplan-Auerbach, a geology professor at Western Washington University, was the first to spot the unusual shaking. She told CNN that she noticed a “pattern of signals” when comparing data from both nights of the concert that were “nearly identical.” Over 144,000 fans attended the concert over two nights.
NYT: A Taylor Swift concert in downtown Seattle last weekend shook the ground so hard, it caused a "Swift-Quake" — registering signals on a nearby seismometer roughly equivalent to a magnitude 2.3 earthquake, seismologists said.
—  Sreenivas || ஸà¯à®°à¯€à®¨à®¿à®µà®¾à®¸à¯ (@i_sreenivas) July 30, 2023
pic.twitter.com/4A5gX8nLdg
Swifties’ ability to Shake It Off even trumped the 2.0-magnitude ‘Beast Quake’ of 2011, when Seattle Seahawks Marshawn Lynch caused the ground to rumble with cheering and standing ovations when he made a touchdown.
Even more impressively, as per Futurism, sporting earthquakes, such as the aforementioned Beast Quake, only last for a short while. However, the ‘Swift Quake,’ as the incident has now been dubbed, seemed to have gone on for 10 hours.
Swifties 🤠Seismologists
— USGS Earthquakes (@USGS_Quakes) July 28, 2023
S/o to @PNSN1 for installing & maintaining seismic stations throughout the Pacific Northwest, including a station just outside Lumen Field, which recorded the ENERGY generated by Taylor Swift concerts July 22 & 23. #swiftmicityhttps://t.co/90rmIPodON pic.twitter.com/CFxPAwa6b0
Caplan-Auerbach explained that in a concert, the pattern of cheering is more random than at a sporting event—where everyone may cheer at the same time for the same reason. Swift’s concert provided 10 hours of data, which could be attributed to various components of the show, such as the music, speakers, and fans.
Will Beyoncé’s upcoming show in September at the same stadium result in an even greater magnitude seismic shift? Experts are ready to study any earthquakes that may occur when Queen B rides into Seattle.
[via Futurism and BBC, cover image via Fabio Diena | Dreamstime.com]
