19 votes

A Western Washington University geology professor looked at the seismic activity from Taylor Swift's concerts in Seattle to see how much the ground shook

Posted by spit-evil-olive-tips
Tags: usa.wa.seattle, taylor swift, concerts, geology, western washington university, lumen field, seismology, the eras tour, offbeat, author.leah pezzetti, source.king5
https://www.king5.com/article/tech/science/seattles-swift-quake-seismic-activity/281-d00b5ff0-8367-4b4d-b727-384b7503170f

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Title
Seattle's 'Swift Quake' surpasses 2011 'Beast Quake' seismic activity
Published
Jul 26 2023
Word count
569 words

4 comments

  1. spit-evil-olive-tips
    Link
    for some local background, the "Beast Quake" is Seattle-famous - it happened in 2011 but has its own Wikipedia page: here's the original game video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nt0jAa6alUc...

    for some local background, the "Beast Quake" is Seattle-famous - it happened in 2011 but has its own Wikipedia page:

    The Beast Quake was a National Football League (NFL) touchdown scored by Seattle Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch against the New Orleans Saints during a 2010 NFC Wild Card playoff game. Occurring in the fourth quarter while Seattle was up by four points, Lynch rushed for 67 yards and broke nine tackles to score a touchdown, which secured the Seahawks' eventual 41–36 victory. The play's name derives from Lynch's nickname "Beast Mode" and the subsequent celebration of Seahawks fans registering on a nearby seismograph.

    here's the original game video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nt0jAa6alUc

    because Taylor Swift's Eras tour took place in the same stadium, it's possible to make an apples-to-apples comparison between the seismograph readings. and the Swifties beat the Hawks fans - by about double:

    She said it’s tricky to compare the magnitude difference of the two, but she did the math and says one "Swift Quake" is about twice as big as a Beast Quake, which is a magnitude difference of a 0.3 quake, but emphasizes that the Beast Quake was only a few seconds compared to an hours-long concert.

    5 votes
  2. [3]
    balooga
    Link
    Not to over analyze a funny thing but I imagine Tay Tay probably caused most of that excess quake herself. It’s not like Marshawn Lynch was mic’ed on the field, belting out pop hits at a million...

    Not to over analyze a funny thing but I imagine Tay Tay probably caused most of that excess quake herself. It’s not like Marshawn Lynch was mic’ed on the field, belting out pop hits at a million decibels over a huge amplified sound system.

    1 vote
    1. [2]
      Rocks
      Link Parent
      I think they mean the crowd caused the seismic activity, not the individuals themselves. For what it’s worth, I was there at the TS concert on Saturday and it was easily the loudest and largest...

      I think they mean the crowd caused the seismic activity, not the individuals themselves.

      For what it’s worth, I was there at the TS concert on Saturday and it was easily the loudest and largest concert I’ve been to by an incredibly large margin.

      8 votes
      1. BHSPitMonkey
        Link Parent
        Coordinated/synchronized jumping will do that. Parties and dance floors can generate some serious forces; they've collapsed structures on more than one occasion.

        Coordinated/synchronized jumping will do that. Parties and dance floors can generate some serious forces; they've collapsed structures on more than one occasion.

        2 votes