Swifties Beat AC/DC in a Seismic Showdown in Melbourne

If you ever needed proof that Taylor Swift’s fans can shake the earth, here you go. And yes, we’re talking literal ground-shaking.

A new report out of Melbourne says AC/DC may have rocked the city Wednesday night, but Taylor Swift rocked it harder. According to scientists, her Eras Tour created stronger seismic activity at the exact same venue.

AC/DC’s show at Melbourne’s iconic venue did register measurable vibrations, landing in the 2 – 5 hertz range. That puts it in the category of the kind of movement you’d expect when tens of thousands of fans jump, stomp, and scream at once. Their speakers added to the low rumble too, since big subwoofers essentially punch sound directly into the ground.

But the Seismology Research Center says that as solid as AC/DC’s readings were, Taylor Swift’s three-night run produced even bigger blips on their monitors.

In fact, a scientist there flat-out confirmed that the most powerful signals they recorded came from Swift’s concerts.

Swifties will tell you they don’t mess around, and apparently neither do the sensors.

One thing the scientist emphasized is that this has nothing to do with how loud the concerts sound. Seismographs don’t pick up audio. They pick up the physical movement traveling through the ground, which means the culprit is a mix of heavy bass and thousands of fans jumping in sync. At Swift’s shows, the crowd participation is basically a coordinated sport, so it tracks that the venue would rumble like a minor quake.

He explained it like this: the speakers on the stage sit directly on the ground, so they transmit vibration downward. Then you add tens of thousands of feet leaving the floor at the same time during songs like “Shake It Off”, and suddenly the earth is part of the choreography.

For Melbourne, this isn’t the first time music has moved the earth, but it may be the most dramatic example of how different artists produce different seismic signatures. AC/DC brings the thunder, but Taylor Swift apparently brings the tectonic plates.

So in the battle of rock legends versus pop superstardom, science has spoken. And the scoreboard reads: Swifties, 1; Seismic Stability, 0.