The Swift songs that made the biggest impact were “Love Story,” “You Belong with Me” — and more
A recent study of a stop on “The Eras Tour” was considered a seismic event as a team of researchers named five of the loudest moments.
A research team led by Gabrielle Tepp of Caltech published a study in the Seismological Research Letters, which showed that a recent stop on Taylor Swift’s “Eras Tour” made monumental waves.
After receiving a request from the California Office of Emergency Services, the research team placed strong motion sensors at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, California, ahead of the August 5, 2023, tour date.
The sensors would detect the seismic signature of each song and the strength of each song’s tremor, as SWNS reported.
With help from nearby regional seismic networks, the team analyzed data to find that the strongest seismic activity occurred when Swift sang her hit 2014-released song “Shake it Off.”
The study said that the 70,000 fans inside SoFi Stadium created a seismic wave with a 0.851 magnitude — which was likely from the dancing and jumping motions in the crowd, SWNS also reported.
Tepp said that “based on the maximum strength of shaking, the strongest tremor was equivalent to a magnitude -2 earthquake,” noted SWNS.
Referred to as “microearthquakes,” the groundshaking movements were reported 50 times in Southern California last year, the study said.
Other songs on the list of the highest energy-releasing moments at “The Eras Tour” included when Swift performed “You Belong With Me,” “Love Story,” “Cruel Summer” and “22.”
To explain the intensity of the concert, researchers compared it to a recent Metallica concert – also at SoFi Stadium.
Tepp said that the harmonic signals did not look the same as the ones taken at Swift’s three-and-a-half-hour show.
“Metal fans like to headband a lot, so they’re not necessarily bouncing,” Tepp explained.
She added, “It might just be that the ways in which they move don’t create as strong of a signal.”
Tepp said the seismic study also found that Swift’s songs don’t vary in beat range from the recorded performances to the live performances — which could contribute to the study results.
The researcher also noted that Swift has a largely choreographed show — while Metallica tends to not have choreography, noting this could alter tremor signals as well.
This instance, however, was not the first example of an earthquake caused by fans of the pop star.
Taylor Swift will return to the stage for her European leg of “The Eras Tour” in May 2024 in Paris.
The dancing and jumping at the July 22 and 23 tour stops in Seattle, Washington, caused seismic activity similar to a 2.3 magnitude earthquake, according to Jackie Caplan-Auerbach, a seismologist and geology professor at Western Washington University.
Taylor Swift will return to the stage for her European leg of “The Eras Tour” in May 2024 in Paris, France.
