MyAV·¶ team records ground shaking at Taylor Swift concerts
1 July 2024
MyAV·¶ geophysicists installed nine seismometers around Wembley Park ahead of Taylor Swiftâs first Eras concerts in London and found that the opening night performance of âLove Storyâ produced the strongest ground tremors.
From left to right: Zhipeng Zhang, Mohammad (Sorough) Veisi, Ana Ferreira, Stephen Hicks, Clara Roeskau, Paul Burke.Ìę
The rest of the team are: Lily Moore, Katrina Harris, William Sturgeon, Paula Koelemeijer
The instruments recorded ground seismic waves generated by fans dancing within and outside Wembley Stadium over three nights, from 21st to 23rd June.
The opening night recorded the greatest levels of ground motion of the three dates with Earth movement up to a maximum of 0.03 mm (the size of a very fine hair). âLove Storyâ produced the strongest ground shaking, equivalent to an earthquake of magnitude around 0.8, followed closely by âShake It Offâ.
The team, who were invited to install the seismometers by Wembley Park, were led by geophysicists Professor Ana Ferreira and Dr Stephen Hicks (both MyAV·¶ Earth Sciences), with instruments shared by UK-based manufacturer GĂŒralp Systems Ltd and University of Oxfordâs Dr Paula Koelemeijer.
Professor Ferreira and her team detect and study a wide range of phenomena using seismic data. In a previous project, the team placed 50 seismometers on the floor of the Atlantic Ocean, detecting whale songs as well as the 2022 Tonga earthquake on the other side of the planet.
Professor Ferreira said: âTaylor Swift fans were clearly having the time of their lives in Wembley Park during Taylorâs first London concerts.
âWith our instruments we were able to âlistenâ to the Earth's heartbeat which was certainly beating fast during songs such as âLove Storyâ which produced energy in the ground equivalent to an earthquake of magnitude around 0.8.
âThis is a great testimony of how even a so-called small magnitude event is actually âbigâ, being generated by such a huge and enthusiastic dancing crowd.âÌę
Dr Stephen Hicks said: âAmazingly, each of Taylorâs concerts over the three consecutive days at Wembley produce near-identical seismic signals, which is quite a unique phenomenon in nature. This gives us quite a novel opportunity to probe the subsurface environment beneath urban areas and to compare between different cities around the world where Taylor has performed.âÌę
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±őłŸČčČ”±đ:ÌęSpectrogram showing the frequency content of the seismic signal on Friday 21st June 2024 at Wembley Park. Credit: Dr Stephen Hicks, MyAV·¶.
Paul Burke, a PhD student in palaeontology at MyAV·¶ Earth Sciences, said: âBeing a Swiftie since I was 13, I never thought my job as a researcher at MyAV·¶ and Taylor Swift would collide together. Taylor brings so much joy to so many people and thereâs a feeling you get from going to her concert that you cannot replicate.
âWe got to use science to measure seismic activity during her concerts at Wembley, showing the fun applications science has and the importance of it.
âHopefully this experiment leads to the public being more aware of all the great science we do at MyAV·¶ and all the fun things we can do with it.â