Could Taylor Swift fans trigger a quake? Seismographs may catch shaking at California concerts

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Taylor Swift will perform back-to-back shows in the Bay Area starting Friday night and there’s a “pretty good” chance excited fans will create seismic waves.

“That doesn’t mean it’s an earthquake though,” said seismologist Dr. Julian Lozos.

Multiple news outlets reported fans caused the equivalent of a magnitude-2.3 earthquake during Swift’s Eras Tour Stop last weekend.

And, in Seattle, it’s happened before, according to Lozos.

Seattle shaking with excitement

“Seismologists have fun with stuff like this,” he told The Sacramento Bee, explaining a 2010 incident at the same arena. “There was an actual peer-reviewed scientific article about ‘Beast Quake,’ which was Seahawks fans reacting to a touchdown.”

The rumbles there came during the Seahawks’ 2010 wild-card playoff game when Marshawn Lynch scored a winning touchdown to beat the visiting New Orleans Saints at Qwest Field.

Earthquakes are recorded on a seismograph, a device used to record vibrations and how the Earth reacts or reflects those movements. The device is more sensitive than people, Lozos said, meaning it can detect even the smallest temblors.

Would anyone notice the shaking?

The Grammy Award-winning artist will take the stage Friday and Saturday night at Levi’s Stadium, home to the San Francisco 49ers, and sits right on the shores of San Francisco Bay in Santa Clara. With roughly 58,000 fans in attendance, it’s possible the audience could make the ground beneath the stadium rumble, Lozos said.

The associate professor of geophysics at Cal State Northridge, a place in Los Angeles’ San Fernando Valley known for earthquakes in its own right, said although there’s a chance something similar could happen in the Bay Area, those in and around the venue probably wouldn’t even notice it.

After a weekend in Santa Clara, the U.S. leg of the Eras Tour will end in August with six shows at Sofi Stadium in Los Angeles.

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