Measuring the Taylor Swift shift

We were delighted to be able to support University College London (UCL) with a recent project to measure the seismic activity generated at the recent Taylor Swift concerts, down the road from us in Wembley, London.

We provided five 6TD's for the project which were deployed by a team from UCL at Wembley Park.

The findings were released to the media and received a good level of interest, including from the BBC, showing that the Taylor Swift effect extends to seismology too!

You can read the full UCL release below:

Taylor Swift fans partied so hard in Wembley Park across the first three dates of the London leg of The Eras Tour at Wembley Stadium that they made the Earth move according to the seismology team at University College London (UCL).

Hundreds of thousands of Swifties flocked to Wembley Park to shake their stuff at the first three of her eight performances at Wembley Stadium with the opening night, Friday 21st June, recording the greatest levels of ground motion of the three dates.

Swift’s hit songs Shake It Off, Love Story, Look What You Made Me Do, I Can Do With A Broken Heart and Karma generated the most movement on the opening night with Love Story producing the strongest ground shaking - equivalent to an earthquake of magnitude around 0.8 - followed closely by Shake It Off.

Reaction to Swift’s boyfriend, Travis Kelce’s surprise debut as a dancer during the intro of I Can Do It With A Broken Heart to rapturous applause from fans, was also recorded by the seismometers on Sunday 23rd June, as was the crowd's support of Swift and her live band earlier that night.

Wembley Park – the globally renowned entertainment district in North West London – invited the seismology team from the Department of Earth Sciences at UCL to monitor the impact of the concerts. Led by Geophysicists Professor Ana Ferreira and Dr Stephen Hicks, the UCL team positioned nine measuring devices across Wembley Park. In addition to UCL’s own resources, UK-based manufacturer Güralp Systems Ltd provided five highly sensitive seismometers. University of Oxford’s Associate Professor of Geophysics, Dr Paula Koelemeijer, also shared instruments for use in Wembley Park, allowing for detailed data to be recorded on the impact of the Swifties dancing and stomping their feet in Wembley Stadium – along with those ‘Taylor-gating’ outside the iconic venue.

• Nine seismometers were installed around Wembley Park tailored for optimal seismic recordings of the Taylor Swift concerts.
• Ground seismic waves, generated by fans dancing within Wembley Stadium and those outside the venue, were recorded from 21st to 23rd June 2024.
• The opening night, Friday 21st June, recorded the greatest levels of ground motion of the three dates with Earth movement up to a maximum of 0.03 mm (the size of a very fine hair).
• Love Story produced the strongest ground shaking, equivalent to an earthquake of magnitude around 0.8, followed closely behind by Shake It Off, on Friday 21st June.
• Shake It Off produced one of the highest beat rates (approx. 5 beats per sec) on Friday 21st June.
• Some songs such as Love Story led to stronger up-and-down recordings while others such as Shake It Off led to stronger side-to-side recordings. This may reflect different dancing styles.
• Travis Kelce’s surprise guest appearance and Swift’s thanks to her band on Sunday 23rd June also triggered the sensitive seismometers
• The seismic recordings from each night were nearly identical, highlighting the highly professional nature of the performances

Equivalent ‘Taylor tremors’ are anticipated on 15, 16, 17, 19 and 20 August, as Swift continues to wow audiences as she returns to Wembley Stadium.