Shake, shake, shake – Taylor Swift’s LA fans created earthquake-like tremors on ‘Eras Tour’

nme.com:

Taylor Swift‘s fans in Los Angeles caused earthquake-like tremors when watching the singer perform live at the SoFi Stadium last summer.The ‘Midnights’ pop star played six concerts at the huge Inglewood venue in August 2023 as part of the North American leg of her ongoing ‘Eras Tour’.According to a new study from Caltech and UCLA researchers, the third night of Swift’s stint at the stadium (August 5) saw signals from the show register on seismic network stations within approximately 5.6 miles of the SoFi, and on “strong-motion sensors placed near and inside the stadium” (via the LA Times).The report – titled ‘Shake to the Beat: Exploring the Seismic Signals and Stadium Response of Concerts and Music Fans’ – said the researchers were able to identify “the seismic signature” of each track performed at the three-hour-plus gig.Additionally, it found that the seismic activity was most likely a result of the “dancing and jumping motions” of Swift’s LA crowd, rather than the beats and reverberations from the venue’s PA.Researchers calculated each song’s “radiated energy” in terms of its equal earthquake magnitude.

The performance of Swift’s 2014 single ‘Shake It Off’ resulted in the “largest local magnitude of 0.851”, according to the study.The singer’s rendition of ‘Love Story’ resulted in a notable amplitude too (0.800).