Did you hear about the Swift quake at the Taylor Swift concert in Seattle? That’s right, Swifties’ dancing combined with the sound system are believed to have caused tiny earthquakes, the largest of which was 2.3 on the Richter scale.
Lumen Field, the site of the Swift concert, was known for the “beast quake” which occurred in 2011 when Seattle Seahawks football fans celebrated a touchdown. That measured 2.0 on the Richter scale.
Now I would like to point out before the Swifties brag too much, that Lumen Field is in an area of the US that is prone to earthquakes. As such it probably has more seismographs that are more sensitive than other ones at other locations. They want to have advance warnings if there is to be a a big quake.
Bands from a bygone era may have triggered bigger earthquakes in the past. I’m looking at the Who, which had the loudest concerts on record. So much so that band member Pete Townsend is almost deaf.
But for the record, I most want to implicate the band Queen. We Will Rock You has a pronounced simple beat that the audience can easily follow. With a clap, clap, STOMP, I bet that some Queen concert of years ago would have had the record if they were being watched by all the seismographs near Lumen Field.
But for now, Swift has the bragging rights. I bet more acts would like to play Lumen field just to see how well they will do in the great seismograph competition. Who knows maybe Queen might be curious how they could do vs. Swift?
Sensitive seismographs could be set up near other venues, all over the world. It could be an international contest of who has the most raucous fans. Who knows, maybe Swift and Lumen Field can keep the record. But with all the fans and acts around the world, I doubt it.
