At a Taylor Swift concert in Los Angeles last August, the energy was so high that it literally shook the ground.
Scientists have found out that it was the fans, not the loud music, who were behind these mini-earthquakes, or as they’ve come to call them, “Swift quakes.”
This unique discovery comes from researchers at Caltech and UCLA who decided to study the seismic activities during Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour concerts at SoFi Stadium.
The California Office of Emergency Services was curious if the passionate movements of fans at concerts could cause the ground to shake.
They got their answer during Swift’s show on August 4, thanks to the collaboration of scientists including Monica Kohler, a research professor at Caltech.
To get a closer look at what was happening, the team set up 10 special shaking sensors inside the stadium and one more across the street.
These sensors are part of a bigger network designed to catch earth’s trembles, whether they come from natural earthquakes or, in this case, thousands of Swifties dancing and jumping to their favorite songs.
And shake they did. The sensors picked up vibrations that were more rhythmic and lasted longer than the quick jolt of an earthquake.
This kind of shaking is usually compared to the ongoing roar of a jet engine versus the sudden boom of an explosion.
The scientists used a technique called spectrograms to see the energy levels during each of the 45 songs played at the concert.
They found that the song “Shake It Off” lived up to its name, causing the biggest stir among the crowd. This “concert tremor” was so significant that it matched the energy of a very small earthquake.
To dive deeper into the source of these tremors, Gabrielle Tepp, a lead author of the study, did a little experiment. She played Swift’s “Love Story” on a speaker and then jumped around to the beat. It turned out that her movements, not the sound of the music, were what made the sensor react.
This revelation has implications beyond understanding concert dynamics. Large venues like stadiums are sometimes used as emergency shelters.
Knowing how these structures respond to mass movements can help ensure they remain safe in different scenarios, including actual earthquakes.
The study, which aimed to clarify whether music or movement causes ground shakes at concerts, showed that the collective dancing and jumping of fans are the real culprits.
This insight is crucial not only for seismologists but also for civil engineers who work on ensuring structures can withstand various kinds of shaking.
In the end, this research highlighted an important reminder: not all tremors and shakes come from natural earthquakes. Human activities, especially those involving large crowds like at concerts, can also impact our surroundings in significant ways.
The study’s findings, published in the journal Seismological Research Letters, pave the way for further investigations into how human excitement and energy can literally move the world.
