Taylor Swift fans âShake It Off,â causing record-breaking seismic activity during Seattle shows
Taylor Swift fans are in their record-breaking era.
After two nights of earth-shaking dancing at Swiftâs Seattle âErasâ tour concert at Lumen Field, enthusiastic Swifties caused seismic activity equivalent of a 2.3 magnitude earthquake, according to seismologist Jackie Caplan-Auerbach.
The âSwift Quakeâ has been compared to the 2011 âBeast Quake,â when Seattle Seahawks fans erupted after an impressive touchdown by running back Marshawn âBeast Modeâ Lynch. The ensuing celebration was detected on the same local seismometer as the Swift concert, Caplan-Auerbach told CNN.
Caplan-Auerbach, who works as a geology professor at Western Washington University, saw the comparison in a Pacific Northwest earthquake group she moderates on Facebook and immediately got to work.
âI grabbed the data from both nights of the concert and quickly noticed they were clearly the same pattern of signals,â she said, adding, âIf I overlay them on top of each other, theyâre nearly identical.â
The main difference between the July 22 and July 23 shows, aside from the surprise songs Swift is known to perform, makes up roughly 26 minutes. âI asked around and found out the Sunday show was delayed by about half an hour, so that adds upâ Caplan-Auerbach said.
While the magnitude difference between âBeast Quakeâ and âSwift Quakeâ is only 0.3, Caplan-Auerbach said the Swifties have the Seahawks fans beat. âThe shaking was twice as strong as âBeast Quakeâ. It absolutely doubled it.â
âThe primary difference is the duration of shaking,â Caplan-Auerbach explained. âCheering after a touchdown lasts for a couple seconds, but eventually it dies down. Itâs 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.â
While Caplan-Auerbach is excited about the chance of becoming a Swiftie herself, she is mostly driven by the opportunity to demystify science.
âWhat I love is to be able to share that this is scienceâ she said, adding that âit doesnât have to happen in a lab with a white coat. Everyday observations and experiences are science.â
CNNâs Chloe Melas, who attended one of Swiftâs Seattle concerts, shared her observations and experiences as a . âGoing to Taylorâs concert in Seattle was unlike anything Iâve ever experienced,â she said. âYou could literally feel the ground shaking beneath your feet. My ears are still ringing.â
Even Swift herself felt the energy from her West Coast Swifties, and in an Instagram post on Monday for âall the cheering, screaming, jumping, dancing, singing at the top of your lungs.â
âThat was genuinely one of my favorite weekends ever,â she added.
Swiftâs Seattle concerts come as she nears the end of the domestic run of her âErasâ tour, her first tour in five years. Along the way, the singer has been credited for boosting local economies and breaking an attendance record in Pittsburgh, among many other feats.
The âErasâ tour heads to Santa Clara in Northern California on Friday, and continues with six shows in Los Angeles next month to cap off her U.S. tour run. Swift then goes international with âEras,â beginning with a show in Mexico City on Aug. 24.