Another band caused an earthquake. This time, it was Metallica. They’ve joined a prestigious club of earth-movers.
Sometimes a band will play so loud and an audience will be so rambunctious that the music registers on earthquake-detecting seismographs–or as some geologists call them, “concert-quakes.” Here are some examples.
1. Madness (August 8, 1992)
According to the British Geological Survey, there was a concert-induced earthquakes in Finsbury Park, Northeast London. About 35,000 people went nuts during “One Step Beyond,” creating a skanking-fest resulted in tremors that hit 4.1 on the Ritcher scale.
I quote seismologist Alice Walker: They had described some effects like heavy lorries passing outside. People were frightened. Tower blocks were being evacuated because people thought the tower block was going to fall down. It was an intensity of about five. When I told the police that I thought the cause of the disturbance was a Madness concert at Finsbury Park, they didn’t believe me at first. I got a phone call the next night from the police who said exactly the same felt effects had occurred – and so they did believe me after all. So my reputation as a seismologist still remains intact!”
2. Foo Fighters (December 13, 2011)
The Foos performed at Western Springs Stadium in Auckland, New Zealand, an area known for seriously bad natural earthquakes. The band tempted fate by turning it up so loud in front of 50,000 people that two nearby seimic monitoring stations registered the vibrations. It was determined that the crowd movements generated the same effect as 5,000 tonnes moving about. No magnitude was attributed to the “Foo-quake.”
3. AC/DC (December 15, 2015)
The same Auckland stadium played host to AC/DC, which we all know as one of the loudest bands in the universe. This gig was so loud that it was burned over six kilometres away and also registered on local seismographs. No magnitude was ever given.
4. Bruce Springsteen (May 14, 2016)
Barcelona experiences a “Boss-quake” when the E Street Band played the city’s Camp Nou stadium in front of about 65,000 people. Things peaked during a rendition of “Shout” which was part of the encore. This was noted by the Seismic Laboratory at the Institute of Earth Science Jaume Almera.
5. Garth Brooks (April 30, 2022)
Country fans can mosh, too. During a performance of the song “Callin’ Baton Rouge” (the unofficial anthem of Tiger Stadium) on the campus of Louisiana State University, 102,000 fans went crazy. Again, no magnitude was assigned, but seismograph readouts clearly show that the earth shook.
6. Travis Scott (August 7, 2023)
When Scott played The Circus Maximus in Rome, hundreds of people called fire departments to report an earthquake. Nope. It was a hip-hop show. When Kanye joined Scott onstage, the “Scottquake” that followed registered as 1.3 on the Ritcher scale.
7. Taylor Swift (July 22, 2023)
During the first leg of the Eras tour, Swifties gathered at Lumen Stadium in Seattle (exactly 72,171 of them) caused seismic activity equal to a 2.3 magnitude quake. It was detected at the University of Western Washington. The peak vibrations happened during “Shake it Off.”
8. Metallica (May 7, 2025)
Lane Stadium in Blacksbur, Virginia shook so much during “Enter Sandman” (the intro song for the Hokie college football team for the last quarter-century) that it left a seismic footprint. About 65,000 people made the earth move.
