Liverpool fans celebrated Premier League title-winning goals so hard the earth experienced tremors, scientists say
Liverpool winning the Premier League title shook the earth — literally — as scientists from University of Liverpool have revealed. Liverpool beat Tottenham Hotspur by a 5-1 scoreline at Anfield on April 27 to claim the the club’s 20th top-flight championship in front of a packed Anfield stadium. The celebrating fans at the venue caused little tremors, the scientists said.
According to a report on the BBC website, the “most significant tremor” came thanks to Alexis Mac Allister’s goal in the 24th minute, because it handed Liverpool a narrow 2-1 edge in the contest. The celebrations from the Liverpool faithful registered a peak magnitude of 1.74 on the Richter scale.
Cody Gakpo’s effort measured in at 1.03, the own goal from Destiny Udogie 1.35 and Luis Diaz’s initially disallowed equaliser 0.64.
How did scientists measure this?
Liverpool’s website revealed that they had installed a seismometer – an instrument that measures ground movement – in the Main Stand for the game against Spurs. The study was conducted by Dr Antoine Septier, Dr Farnaz Kamranzad, and Professor Ben Edwards, who are from the University of Liverpool’s Department of Earth, Ocean and Environmental Sciences department.
Explaining the science behind the experiment, Ben Edwards, professor of engineering seismology at the University of Liverpool, was quoted as saying by Liverpool’s website: “This experiment gave us a unique opportunity to use seismology to capture a scientific record of the magnitude of Liverpool’s historic title-clinching win. Using state-of-the-art, seismic-monitoring equipment – normally deployed in earthquake zones like Chile and Italy – we recorded the incredible energy released both at the surface and below.
“Much like natural seismic events, these goals produced bursts of ground-shaking, triggered by the sheer passion of Liverpool fans. Their enthusiasm was literally powerful enough to move the Earth. We hope this work will inspire young people to engage with science and see Earth science as essential to building a more sustainable future.”
