This article was published in Scientific American’s former blog network and reflects the views of the author, not necessarily those of Scientific American
After the Seahawks won the Super Bowl, I got curious: did all those fervent fans I've been seeing painting the town blue and green for the last several weeks cause another BeastQuake? From a brief browse of the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network, it would appear sadly, no. There weren't enough fans packed tightly enough in one place at the critical moment to cause an anthropogenic seismic event. But that's not to say there wasn't a whole lotta shaking going on during the last few weeks!
Yeah. I'm kinda proud I live in a town where the fans cause the earth to move when our team scores. I'm not a huge football fan, but I loves me some geology, so this warms the cockles nicely. And maybe it was a good thing the Super Bowl wasn't played here, because those fans might've shaken the city down.
This has to be one of the greatest annotated seismograms of all time:
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We watched the game on the projector at work, and I watched that rain of blue and green confetti come down, and the Tank o' Gatorade poured on Coach Carroll, and looked at the beaming players as they practically danced through the crush, and felt that pride even non-fans feel when the old hometown team does a great big thing. Look at these happy faces. Even Richard Sherman, who had to finish on crutches, can't quit grinning.
And here's our MVP, Malcolm Smith, waving that trophy high:
You can betcha the next home game will be a seismic event!
(And, to my Broncos fans: may there be a next time for ye soon.)
