‘Shaking it off the charts’: Taylor Swift fans set off earthquake monitors on first UK nights of singer's Eras Tour
13 June 2024, 14:47
Fans who attended the first three dates in the UK on Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour danced and cheered so hard that they set off earthquake monitors, according to the British Geological Survey (BGS).
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Swifties across the country flocked to Scotland last weekend as the megastar arrived in Edinburgh for the first three of 17 dates in the UK for her Eras tour.
Each night at Edinburgh’s Murrayfield broke the all-time attendance record for a stadium in Scotland, as more than 200,000 Swifties purchased tickets to the three sold-out shows.
But it seems the singer’s power even transcends influence on local economies, as the star’s three Edinburgh dates reportedly shook the earth.
The BGS recorded seismic activity on their monitoring stations 6km away from the concert last weekend. The seismic activity was recorded as the highest during three songs: Cruel Summer, …Ready for It? and Champagne Problems.
Swift’s first date in the Scottish city on Friday seemed to cause the most commotion of the three nights, with one segment of the gig moving the ground by 23.4mn.
The seismic activity was attributed to fans’ dancing and cheering during the different songs.
In Cruel Summer and …Ready for It? it was dancing that set off the activity on monitoring stations.
Whereas in Champagne Problems it was set off by an impressive four-minute applause from fans.
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Over the course of her tour so far, it has become an unspoken custom for Swifties to give their biggest and longest applause at the end of Champagne Problems - when Swift also removes her earpieces to hear the full extent of the cheers.
But overall, …Ready For It? was the main cause of the seismic activity on all three nights.
The amount of activity recorded would have generated enough power through stomping and dancing to charge 6,000 car batteries, equating to around 80 kilowatts, according to BGS.
BGS seismologist Callum Harrison said: “Clearly Scotland's reputation for providing some of the most enthusiastic audiences remains intact!”
One Taylor Swift fan told LBC: “It was completely electric, I’ve never experienced anything like it.
“It was a three-hour chorus of fans singing at the top of their lungs and having the time of their lives - I’ll never forget it.”
Past concerts hosted by stars Beyonce, Harry Styles and Bruce Springsteen at Edinburgh's Murrayfield stadium also registered on earthquake monitors, but Swift’s fans generated more movement by almost 10 nanometres.
However, while the movement generated by fans was detected by BGS instruments, it’s unlikely it would have been felt by anyone other than those within the vicinity of the gigs.
The singer has boosted local economies at every location she’s visited on her tour, including Edinburgh, as it injected an estimated £77m into the Scottish capital’s economy.
The ‘Taylor Swift effect’ has been felt widely since she embarked on her record-breaking tour, which is set to make more than $2bn (£1.56bn) by the time it ends in December.
The Eras Tour is expected to boost the UK economy by almost £1bn as fans shell out on tickets, accommodation, outfits, travel and more - with countless fans also travelling from across the world to make the dates.
Swift is set to resume her dates in the UK on Thursday, as she arrives in Liverpool for the first of three nights.
She’ll then head to Cardiff and end with eight nights at London’s Wembley Stadium, spread across June and August.
