Swifties 'Quake it Off' at Murrayfield
The British Geological Survey's earthquake monitors picked up on seismic vibrations from the crowd.
Last updated 13th Jun 2024
Murrayfield started to shake, shake, shake as the dancing of thousands of Swifties was picked up by earthquake monitors at Taylor’s Edinburgh concerts.
Detections were made up to 3.7 miles away from Friday to Sunday after nearly 73,000 fans danced the night away in celebration of their favourite artist.
Good vibrations
Dr Sophie Butcher, scientist at the British Geological Survey (BGS) said: “The seismometers measure very small ground vibrations.
“The things we’re looking at here are dancing, jumping, clapping, and the movement of bobbing up and down.
“So it’s not an audible sound we’re measuring, it’s the vibrations that travel through the earth.”
The BGS said that Friday generated the most seismic activity, with spikes caused by dancing particularly evident during her songs Cruel Summer, Ready For It? and Shake It Off.
The earthquake monitors recorded fans dancing in time to the music and reached a peak at 160 beats per minute during Ready For It?, with the BGS saying the crowd was transmitting around 80kW of energy - equivalent to around 6,000 car batteries.
The four-minute applause during Champagne Problems the same night also caused a spike on the monitors.
A similar pattern occurred on all three nights, with Friday recording 23.4 nanometres (nm) of movement compared to 22.8nm on Saturday and 23.3nm on Sunday.
The seismic activity from the concerts was detected at two monitoring stations, the furthest of which was 3.7 miles away at the BGS office in the Lyell Centre.
What does it all mean?
Earthquake monitors have recorded activity during other dates on the Eras tour, including in Los Angeles and Seattle in the US.
Callum Harrison, BGS seismologist, said: "BGS is the national body responsible for recording earthquakes to inform the Government, public, industry and regulators, and allow for a greater understanding of earthquake risk and plan for future events.
"It's amazing that we've been able to measure the reaction of thousands of concertgoers remotely through our data. The opportunity to explore a seismic activity created by a different kind of phenomenon has been a thrill.
"Clearly Scotland's reputation for providing some of the most enthusiastic audiences remains well intact."
The BGS said the vibrations generated by the concert are unlikely to have been felt by anyone other than those in the immediate vicinity.
Edinburgh City Council approved an increase to the stadium capacity to 72,990 for each night and Swift thanked fans for breaking "the all-time attendance record for a stadium show in Scotland three times in a row".
The US superstar plays the first of three nights at Anfield Stadium in Liverpool on Thursday, and will then move on to Cardiff and London.
She will then play three nights in Dublin and, after a host of shows in Europe, will return to London in August to end the UK and European stint of the tour, which is estimated to be worth up to £1 billion to the UK economy.
Taylor Swift Eras
'Lover' Era (2019)
If 'Reputation' was a departure from the good girl image, 'Lover' was the complete opposite. The album featured elements of folk, country and pop music and saw the singer have hits with 'Me!', 'You Need To Calm Down' and it's title track 'Lover'. In tune with the new sound, Taylor ditched the darker look, and traded it in for pink and blue pastels, perhaps proving that the 'old Taylor' wasn't dead. The singer's new look was very evident throughout in her music video for 'Me!'.
From the 'Lover' Era you can expect to see Taylor perform 'Miss Americana & the Heartbreak Prince', 'Cruel Summer', 'The Man', 'You Need To Calm Down' and 'Lover', during her 'Eras' tour.
'Fearless' Era (2009 - 2010)
'Fearless' is a country pop album and saw Taylor begin to move towards the pop genre. This is the album that really saw Taylor break through into the UK market with the release of her hit 'Love Story'. The singer coupled her heartfelt melodies with a new style of outfits which changed with her new music.
'Fearless' saw Taylor wearing sequinned dresses and ball gowns, moving away from her previous country look.
During her 'Eras' tour, you can expect to see Taylor perform three songs from her 'Fearless' Era, the title track, 'You Below With Me' and 'Love Story'.
'Red' Era (2012 - 2013)
'Red' spans several genres, pop, country and rock and saw Taylor leaving behind the iconic blonde curls of her earlier music. This album spawned several big hits for Taylor, including UK Top 10 singles: 'We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together', 'I Knew You Were Trouble', '22' and 'Everything Has Changed' with Ed Sheeran.
Along with these huge pop tunes, Taylor's look was changing with her now iconic red lipstick and high-waisted shorts and 50s style, becoming more mature, along with her music.
Fans will be pleased to hear that Taylor performs 'We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together', 'I Knew You Were Trouble', '22' and 'All Too Well' during her 'Eras' tour.
'Speak Now' Era (2010 - 2012)
With the release of 'Speak Now', Taylor's fans got to see the singer continue with her country music, but now with a more pop feel. She also introduced them to pop rock and power pop in this era. This album reached Number 6 on the UK chart and spent four weeks in the Top 40. Her highest charting song in the UK was 'Mine'.
In line with her move towards pop, her style changed and became more glam, with influences from the theatre and musicals, with Broadway inspiring her world tour, which took place in 2011/12.
During her 'Eras' tour, Taylor has chosen to perform 'Enchanted'.
'Reputation' Era (2017 - 2018)
Inspired by hit TV show Game of Thrones, Taylor's album 'Reputation' was her darkest yet. Both in terms of its sound, and the outfits she wore. Taylor's album, included hits such as her UK Number 1 'Look What You Made Me Do' and '...Ready for It?'. The album was created after Taylor took a year away from the limelight, and during that time she developed a very contrasting look to her previous albums.
Returning to the public eye, Taylor got rid of the 'good girl' look, replacing her bright red lipstick, for a grungier dark red shade, coupled with sequinned bodysuits and oversized tops.
During her 'Eras' tour, Taylor performs '...Ready For It?', 'Delicate', 'Don't Blame Me', 'Look What You Made Me Do' from her 'Reputation' album.
'folklore' / 'evermore' Era (2020)
Recorded during lockdown, both 'folklore' and 'evermore' were released in 2020, and saw Taylor being inspired by folk songs, with a hint of indie. Despite not being able to tour her albums, the singer's style changed, seeing her swap the pastels for neutral colours, and tweeds.
During her 'Eras' tour, she performs eight songs from the two lockdown albums, 'cardigan', 'betty', 'champagne problems', 'august', 'illicit affairs', 'my tears ricochet', 'marjorie', and 'willow'.
'1989' Era (2014 - 2015)
'1989', named after the year of Taylor's birth, saw the singer move away from country, with her first fully pop album. The sound was very much inspired by 1980s synth-pop, and saw some of her catchiest hits to date, with the likes of 'Shake It Off', 'Blank Space', and 'Bad Blood'.
In terms of looks, Taylor opted for a short bob, and made the transition to a global super star putting on a spectacular show for her '1989 World Tour', which involved several costume changes.
As well as her hits listed above, fans can expect Taylor to perform 'Style' and 'Wildest Dreams' during her 'Eras' tour.
'The Tortured Poets Department' Era (2024)
Taking inspiration from her public heartbreak and her sense of identity, Taylor released her most recent album 'The Tortured Poets Department', while on her 'Eras' tour. The singer has now released several versions of her album, each featuring extra tracks. Overall the album has a much darker, mature theme than any that have been released before.
Despite being her most recent album, Taylor's set is not over after she performs 'But Daddy I Love Him', 'So High School', 'Who's Afraid of Little Old Me?', 'Down Bad', 'Fortnight', 'The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived' and 'I Can Do It With a Broken Heart'.
'Midnights' Era (2022 - 2023)
Taylor's album 'Midnights' tells the stories of '13 sleepless nights' throughout her life, and spawned her hits 'Anti-Hero', 'Lavender Haze' and 'Karma'. The album saw Taylor continue with her pop sound, with many critics calling it dream pop and bedroom pop.
The singer ends her epic 'Eras' tour set list with songs from her 'Midnights' Era, including: 'Lavender Haze', 'Anti-Hero', 'Midnight Rain', 'Vigilante Sh--t', 'Bejeweled', 'Mastermind', and 'Karma'.