The Seismic Alert System noted on its social media accounts that “an explosion of excitement and mass cheering caused tremors in the local area.” A similar incident occurred during Mexico’s debut against Germany at the 2018 World Cup in Russia, when Mexico’s Geological and Atmospheric Research Institute reported that, after Hirving Lozano’s winning goal, a seismic signal of artificial origin was detected, which was “probably caused by mass jumping” by fans in Mexico.
This incident can happen thousands of miles away from where the matches are being played. Geophysicists detected vibrations in Bergen, Norway, when the country’s team scored goals during the group stage over the past few weeks.
Something similar happened in 2024, when long-duration, low-frequency signals generated at a Taylor Swift concert at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles – with harmonic frequency peaks between 1 and 10 Hz – were detected by seismic monitoring sensors.
For several years now, the term “artificial earthquake” has been used to describe these types of unusual vibrations recorded by seismological systems during sporting events or large-scale demonstrations. However, experts believe that this term is not the most appropriate way to describe this type of phenomenon.
First of all, it should be clarified that artificial earthquakes exist and have been the subject of study for decades. Research at Durham University’s Department of Geology defines them as “human-induced earthquakes” caused by activities capable of altering the geological behavior of the ground, such as the construction of tall buildings, groundwater extraction, tunneling, enhanced oil recovery, hydraulic fracturing (fracking), or underground gas storage.
Under this definition, the tremors detected by the SASSLA system following the Mexican team’s targets cannot be considered “artificial earthquakes”. Experts point out that, for ground movement to be classified as an earthquake, it must be linked to a geological process. The mere fact that a seismograph records a disturbance does not mean that it can be classified as an earthquake.
Arturo Iglesias, a researcher at the Institute of Geophysics at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, explained several years ago that, although human activity generates movements capable of being recorded by seismometers, this does not mean that they are real geological phenomena that can be measured using seismic magnitudes or cause changes in the subsurface.
Iglesias said seismic monitoring systems are capable of detecting subtle movements in the ground, whether of natural origin or the result of human activities. He also said that their readings could be affected by factors such as the location of stations, terrain characteristics or the intensity of certain activities occurring on the surface.
“Even if someone jumps near the sensor, it is still detected, but it is not an earthquake. An earthquake caused by the scattered activity of fans is a joke,” Iglesias insists.
However, abnormal vibrations generated by the simultaneous movement of thousands of people – as happened after the Mexican national team scored a goal on Tuesday – have become an increasingly relevant area of research.
Experts say a better understanding of these signals will enable the development of more accurate methods for analyzing seismic activity and make it easier to distinguish between different types of vibrations recorded by instruments. Additionally, this knowledge could strengthen emerging applications, such as seismic interferometry – a technique that uses vibrations generated by everyday sources to study subsurface structure without the need for controlled explosions or waiting for a natural earthquake to occur.
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