Liverpool fans shook the ground—literally—during the club’s 5-1 win over Tottenham Hotspur at Anfield on 27 April, which secured their 20th top-flight title. Scientists from the
University of Liverpool confirmed that celebrations from the 60,415-strong crowd generated measurable seismic activity after each goal.
The most powerful tremor came in the 24th minute when Alexis Mac Allister scored to put Liverpool 2-1 ahead. The resulting cheer registered a peak magnitude of 1.74 on the Richter scale.
Using sensitive earthquake-detection equipment, university researchers—Dr Antoine Septier, Dr Farnaz Kamranzad, and Professor Ben Edwards—tracked the seismic impact of the match in partnership with the club.
“Much like natural earthquakes, these goals created bursts of ground movement,” said Prof. Edwards. “The fans’ passion was literally enough to move the Earth.”
Other goals also sparked seismic reactions: Mo Salah’s second-half strike measured 1.60, Cody Gakpo’s effort reached 1.03, Destiny Udogie’s own goal hit 1.35, and Luis Diaz’s disallowed equaliser still reached 0.64.
Although too subtle to be felt in the stands, the tremors left a lasting seismic "signature" under Anfield, said Dr Kamranzad: “Every cheer writes a trace into the Earth’s memory.”
Dr Septier added he hopes the study inspires interest in seismology and could lead to creative uses of seismic data in sports. Photo by Steffen Prößdorf, Wikimedia commons.