Dancing Swifties make the earth vibrate even 100 km away

A research team from the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies (DIAS) and Trinity College Dublin have discovered that dancing fans at a Taylor Swift concert cause seismic activity that can be measured at a distance of 100 km. During the song "Shake it off" in particular, the fans caused the earth to vibrate. The signals measured on site around the stadium and those measured more than 100 km away were almost identical.

The scientists, led by geophysicist Eleanor Dunn, investigated three concerts by US singer Taylor Swift in Dublin in July 2024. The results are published in the study "Are you ready for it? Harnessing celebrity influence for science communication and seismology - The Taylor Swift effect", which has been published in the International Journal of Science Education.

Vibrations at a distance of 100 km

The researchers used a network of 42 seismometers at 21 different locations around the stadium during the sold-out Taylor Swift concerts. The signals generated by the fans dancing and cheering at the concerts were recorded precisely. The scientists compared these signals with those recorded by the national network in the Dublin and Wexford mountains more than 100 km away. The researchers found that the signals measured in the stadium and those in the mountains were sometimes almost identical. Significantly, the song "Shake it off" stood out. The measured signals were almost identical, writes the science team.

In June 2024, the British Geological Survey (BGS) had already measured seismic signals at three Taylor Swift concerts in Edinburgh at a maximum distance of 6.4 km around the venue at Murrayfield Stadium. Vibrations occurred during certain songs, reaching peak levels at times. In 2023, at an event in Seattle, the Swifties managed to generate vibrations roughly equivalent to an earthquake measuring 2.3 on the Richter scale. In Los Angeles, 70,000 fans managed to generate a magnitude of around 0.85 for several minutes.

The Dublin scientists had previously advertised their scientific project on social media under the hashtag #SwiftQuakeDublin to arouse interest in science. This was successful and helped to bridge "the gap between celebrity pop culture and scientific research", says Dunn. Science is all around us, "even at our favorite music events".

(olb)