Thousands of Taylor Swift fans made their presence felt, literally shaking the ground at her three Edinburgh concerts last weekend. The enthusiastic crowd responded to the singer’s encouragement to “Shake It Off,” leading to seismic activity detectable from as far as 6 kilometers (3.73 miles) away. The British Geological Survey (BGS), the UK’s national earthquake monitoring agency, reported the phenomenon.
Fans’ Energy Detectable by Monitoring Stations
The energetic Swifties made the biggest commotion during three particular songs: “Cruel Summer,” “Ready For It?” and “Champagne Problems.” The Friday night concert saw the most significant movement, with the ground shifting a maximum of 23.4 nanometers (nm), compared to 22.8nm and 23.3nm on the following two nights. The seismic activity was predominantly caused by dancing and reached a peak of 160 beats per minute during “Ready For It?” The concertgoers generated approximately 80kW of power during this song alone.
The BGS, whose detectors can pick up minor seismic activities from miles away, monitored the concerts’ impact. Callum Harrison, a BGS seismologist, remarked on the uniqueness of measuring the reactions of thousands of concertgoers through seismic data. “It’s amazing that we’ve been able to measure the reaction of thousands of concertgoers remotely through our data,” he said. “The opportunity to explore seismic activity created by a different kind of phenomenon has been a thrill.”
The concerts were marked by fans dressed in glittery, colorful outfits representing various musical eras from Swift’s discography. Over 70,000 fans attended each of the three shows, solidifying Scotland’s reputation for enthusiastic audiences. The movement was detected at two monitoring stations, the furthest being 6 kilometers away at the BGS office at Heriot Watt University. Experts noted that the concert-generated movement was unlikely to be felt by anyone outside the immediate vicinity.
Continual Seismic Activity in Swift’s Tours
Taylor Swift’s 152-date stadium tour is set to gross over $2 billion (£1.56 billion) by its conclusion in December, making it the most lucrative concert tour in music history. During her three performances at Edinburgh’s Murrayfield Stadium, Swift played to 200,000 fans from around the globe. The seismic impact at these concerts echoed similar events at her previous tour stops in Seattle and Los Angeles, where her Seattle performance registered activity equivalent to a 2.3 magnitude earthquake.
Taylor Swift’s tour continues to set records and create memorable experiences for fans worldwide. Each evening of her Edinburgh shows followed a similar pattern, with “Ready For It?”, “Cruel Summer,” and “Champagne Problems” eliciting the most significant seismic responses. Previous performances in Seattle and Los Angeles registered comparable seismic activities, further highlighting the extraordinary impact of her tour.
