Foo Fighters Concert Causes Seismic Readings

The Foo Fighters' recent concert in Auckland, New Zealand rocked... Literally! The movement of the fans in addition to the sound of the show itself resulted in shaking that was strong enough to get a reading from seismic equipment from up to two kilometers away.

According to GeoNet, the Auckland seismic network detected a signal akin to that of a volcanic tremor throughout the Foo Fighters' Tuesday performance.

GeoNet suggests that the shaking began during Tenacious D's opening set and peaked once the Foo Fighters came on stage at 8:20 pm. At the highest recorded frequency the ground was "shaking 3 times per second in a nice rhythmic motion."

"The strong correlation in time with the Foo Fighters concert and the fact it was only recorded on the 2 stations close to Western Springs assured us it was of man-made origin," Outreach Coordinator Sara Page posted to her blog. "There are lulls in the signal between the songs and peaks in signal intensity during the songs."

"The cause of the shaking is most likely the weight of the 50, 000 fans dancing, as 50, 000 fans is equal to around 5, 000 tonnes of mass moving (or moshing) on the ground for the duration of the concert... The sound system, probably contributed as well, especially the bass frequencies coupling in to the earth."

Comments

[Jesus_Dean]

GeoNet suggests that the shaking began during Tenacious D's opening set

Probably Jack Black doing a knee-slide across the stage, LOL.

[redisni]

When they come to Chile next year (no pun intended) they'll need to do beter than that. We eat tremors for breakfast and shit earthquakes

[mrRICHARD911]

Jesus_Dean wrote:

GeoNet suggests that the shaking began during Tenacious D's opening set

Probably Jack Black doing a knee-slide across the stage, LOL.

HAHAHAHAH!!!

[Eifler121]

This is fantastic. Kind of crazy to think that people dancing could actually impact the Earth a little.

[Pagan_Poetry]

Jesus_Dean wrote:

GeoNet suggests that the shaking began during Tenacious D's opening set

Probably Jack Black doing a knee-slide across the stage, LOL.

Awesome. Pure awesome.

Maybe they should keep the band and the fans around for the filming of The Hobbit, in case Peter Jackson needs any shakey special effects.

[metallicaftwlp]

Stranger things have happened here...

[CronoMagus]

Pagan_Poetry wrote:

Jesus_Dean wrote:

GeoNet suggests that the shaking began during Tenacious D's opening set

Probably Jack Black doing a knee-slide across the stage, LOL.

Awesome. Pure awesome.

Maybe they should keep the band and the fans around for the filming of The Hobbit, in case Peter Jackson needs any shakey special effects.

Or in case they need Jack Black for a Hobbit Extra lol.

[rafey]

They should have a seismic monitor on a jumbotron at all rock concerts, and try to get everyone to jump in unison and get the readings as high as they can!

[drummerjmp]

That's how you throw a rock concert

[l.u.c.]

Eifler121 wrote:

This is fantastic. Kind of crazy to think that people dancing could actually impact the Earth a little.

I guess you havent seen Footloose

[Rattlehead2]

Ha ha, that's pretty cool.

[Biggilton]

In next weeks news: "Courtney Love blames Foo Fighters concert for eviction."

[Tad_Eats_People]

Fuck yeah! Us Kiwis know what we're doing... haha

[jgpliskin6]

This is like something straight out of Spinal Tap.

[BOYERxBREAKDOWN]

jgpliskin6 wrote:

This is like something straight out of Spinal Tap.

They turned it to 11.

[gramke]

pretty awesome stuff. i heard the university of florida's football games also register on the richter scale

[little_boy]

it isn't a true rock concert if the ground doesn't shake.
tenacious D were dueling with the devil, it was a ground-breaking showdown, that's for sure

[CreepingDeath13]

Awesome... I was there, woooo!

[hriday_hazarika]

50000 people = 5000 tonnes of mass?

Well, shit.

[strung_out1]

imagine what thats doing to peoples hearing...

[rechris06]

Earth: I used be still like you, then i took a Foo Fighters to the knee.

[jdcapper]

rechris06 wrote:

Earth: I used be still like you, then i took a Foo Fighters to the knee.

This ^

[Galfadez]

rechris06 wrote:

Earth: I used be still like you, then i took a Foo Fighters to the knee.

That would be funny if you re-read it before you posted.

[Slivarito]

This is cool and all... but wouldn't this happen at any large show like this? Just saying, I'm sure a Rage or SOAD show of this size would have the same, ehm, impact.

[Shotgunmerc]

Lets hope they felt this down in Westboro.

[AcdcTXfan]

Foo Fighters rock....I'm not even surprised by this.

[3thousandAnd1]

If only I could see Tenacious D and Foo Fighters in one concert. Imagine if this happened in some of the fat cities in America.

[ZeligtheAxMan]

\m/ Fook Yeah \m/

[Jread89]

BOYERxBREAKDOWN wrote:

jgpliskin6 wrote:

This is like something straight out of Spinal Tap.

They turned it to 11.

And ripped the knob off!

[frostyfrizz]

only the foos could do that :P

[ShigglyB00]

Slivarito wrote:

This is cool and all... but wouldn't this happen at any large show like this? Just saying, I'm sure a Rage or SOAD show of this size would have the same, ehm, impact.

My thoughts exactly. I don't wanna be 'that guy' whose being all, "this is nothing compared metal, etc" but surely heavier bands who have built up aggression in the crowd have been doing this for years. Or even dance music stuff.

I apologise if I've ruined the magic at all.

[jordo246]

frostyfrizz wrote:

only the foos could do that :P

Pretty sure that's not true at all

[Air_Stryker]

BOYERxBREAKDOWN wrote:

jgpliskin6 wrote:

This is like something straight out of Spinal Tap.

They turned it to 11.

Naa dude, they only turned it up to 7. On the Richter Scale.

[guitarguy918]

wow..

[JDR3009]

surely heavier bands who have built up aggression in the crowd have been doing this for years. Or even dance music stuff.

I get what you mean, but I dunno if you're right, heavier bands are more likely to mosh i.e run around and push each other, bands like the Foo Fighters likely have people jumping in unison so they might have a bigger impact. I don't wanna insult any bands or people, but it kinda makes sense that this happened at a Foo Fighters gig rather than Slayer or something...