Tag: seismic

Taylor Swift fans ‘shaking it off’ could be felt as far as Wexford

Researchers at the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies (DIAS) have found that Taylor Swift triggered seismic activity during the three nights of her Eras Tour at Dublin’s Aviva Stadium recently, with activity being identified more than 100km away during fan favourite ‘Shake It Off’.

The 50,000-strong Friday night crowd danced, cheered and stomped the loudest of the three gigs with particular impact coming as fans danced to ‘Love Story’. Eleanor Dunn, PhD candidate at DIAS, is lead researcher on the Swift Quake programme which has deployed the highest number of seismometers (21) for a purpose-made Eras Tour seismic study.

Seismographic data summary

  • Long-Distance Detection: The concert was well detected by a seismometer at an Irish National Seismic Network (INSN) station approximately 14km away from the Aviva Stadium in the Dublin mountains. Additionally, the song ‘Shake It Off’ was identifiable on another INSN seismometer more than 100 km away in Wexford, with the observed frequency (2.66Hz) matching with the song’s beats per minute (BPM) of 160.
  • Energy Output: Analysis from instruments at DIAS on Burlington Road indicated that the first night of the concert series produced the highest energy output at 5600 joules. Nights two and three also exhibited high energy levels, measuring 5500 joules and 5250 joules, respectively.
  • Seismic Amplitude: The song ‘Love Story’ generated the highest seismic waves each night, indicating the largest seismic waves of the event.
  • The seismic activity from the concert was detected by 21 seismometers placed in the vicinity the Aviva Stadium.

Seismic activity is a vibration generated by an earthquake, explosion, or similar energetic source that travels within the Earth or along its surface. Seismometers were placed outside the Aviva Stadium to measure seismic activity generated during the concerts.

A seismometer is a very sensitive instrument which measures ground vibrations and can be used to detect earthquakes. When a seismometer detects seismic activity, it records this information digitally so that it can be analysed later.

Commenting on the research findings, Eleanor Dunn, lead researcher said “My goal for this research is to create a greater understanding of seismic activity. The engagement with fans has been great so far with lots of people sharing their concert videos with us. The videos help us to enhance our understanding of the seismic impact of each concert and the research data has revealed some fascinating insights into the energy generated by Swifties. It’s important to note the movement generated by the concert was unlikely to have been felt by anyone other than those in the immediate vicinity.

“Fans took Swift’s encouragement to ‘Shake It Off’ to a new level with it being detectable over 100km away in Wexford! It’s amazing that we’ve been able to measure the reaction of thousands of Swifties through our data. The opportunity to explore a seismic activity created by a different kind of phenomenon has been really interesting and shows how seismicity happens every day without us knowing. We’re still working on analysing data from the concert and we’d love if fans could continue to send us their videos from each night of the concert via our social media channels and website.”

Further information about Swift Quake is available on social media at:

Can Taylor Swift fans trigger seismic activity at her Dublin shows?

Are Irish swifties ‘ready for it’? A researcher at the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies (DIAS) is investigating the potential for seismic activity at Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour concerts in Dublin this weekend.

Seismic activity is a vibration generated by an earthquake, explosion, or similar energetic source that travels within the Earth or along its surface. Seismometers will be placed outside the Aviva Stadium to measure seismic activity generated by Swifties during the Eras Tour concerts. The seismic data measured will be used to work out what songs are fan favourites and what is happening inside the stadium.

A seismometer is a very sensitive instrument which measures ground vibrations and can be used to detect earthquakes. When a seismometer detects seismic activity, it records this information digitally so that it can be analysed later.

Thanks to local residents and businesses allowing the seismometers to be placed on their property in recent weeks, lead researcher, Eleanor Dunn, has installed three different types of seismometers around the Aviva: Raspberry Shakes, ‘SmartSolos’ and ‘le-3Dlites’. The variety of seismometers will be used to measure different strengths of ground vibrations.

Speaking about her research, Eleanor Dunn, PhD candidate at DIAS, said “Through my research I hope to make more people aware of seismicity, that it’s more than just an earthquake and that seismicity is being created every day in Ireland through activities like transport, construction and concerts. Irish earthquakes are usually such a small magnitude that we don’t tend to feel them, but they do occur here. However, it is important to note the seismic activity generated at the concert will not lead to any kind of earthquake or danger to fans in or around the stadium!

“I would love for fans to get involved by sharing their videos of the concert with us on social media by using #swiftquakeDUBLIN. This will allow us to compare the seismic activity with moments in the concert and will hopefully inform us on what songs are fan favourites and which night had the most active fans. I’m also hoping that this will bring science to a new audience and encourage young people to be curious about the world around them.”

Further information about Swift Quake is available on social media at:

During Covid, researchers at DIAS conducted a similar type of study and measured a noticeable decrease in the noise generated by human activity in Ireland as a result of pandemic lockdown measures. The measurements were taken by the Geophysics section of DIAS.