Fans dancing at Taylor Swift's recent performances at Seattle's Lumen Field rocked the immediate area with the equivalence of a 2.3 magnitude earthquake. Western Washington University seismologist Jackie Caplan-Auerbach analyzed the data and compared it with the activity of the 2011 "Beast Quake," seismic activity caused by Seattle Seahawks fans celebrating a touchdown by Marshawn "Beast Mode" Lynch.
From CNN:
While the magnitude difference between "Beast Quake" and "Swift Quake" is only 0.3, Caplan-Auerbach said the Swifties have the Seahawks fans beat. "The shaking was twice as strong as 'Beast Quake'. It absolutely doubled it."
"The primary difference is the duration of shaking," Caplan-Auerbach explained. "Cheering after a touchdown lasts for a couple seconds, but eventually it dies down. It's much more random than a concert. For Taylor Swift, I collected about 10 hours of data where rhythm controlled the behavior. The music, the speakers, the beat. All that energy can drive into the ground and shake it."
