Scientists have discovered that Swifties sometimes make enough noise to register as an earthquake.
A group of researchers from the California Institute of Technology decided to look into what causes so-called “concert tremors” after a Taylor Swift concert in July generated significant seismic activity.
The scientists placed motion sensors around SoFi Satidum in Los Angeles, where Ms. Swift would perform on Aug. 5 as part of the ongoing Eras Tour.
Researchers calculated the amount of energy radiating from the concert and interpreted it as the local magnitude of an earthquake. The researchers separated the readings by song, with some registering much higher than others.
The rowdiest song was “Shake It Off,” with a local magnitude of 0.851. Ms. Swift’s earlier songs “Love Story” and “You Belong With Me” were nearly as loud, reading 0.8 and 0.849, respectively. Researchers said that movement from the crowd was the main source of the tremors, not the venue’s sound equipment.
Researchers also investigated the energy readings of other concerts in the area for artists like Metallica and Morgen Wallen, but neither could touch Ms. Swift’s numbers.
Even if Ms. Swift’s concerts generate earthquake-like tremors, they aren’t especially dangerous or uncommon. Small earthquakes, which read as a magnitude of 2 or below, happen hundreds of times a day around the world, according to the Seismological Facility for the Advancement of Geoscience.
• Vaughn Cockayne can be reached at vcockayne@washingtontimes.com.
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