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Seattle Seahawks fans rocked the stadium so hard during Monday night’s matchup with New Orleans that seismic instruments registered small tremors at various points during the game.
A magnitude 1 or 2 quake was recorded during Michael Bennett’s 22-yard fumble return for a touchdown in the first quarter.
The game, a 34-7 victory that clinched a playoff berth for the Seahawks, registered on nearby seismic instruments several other times.
John Vidale, director of the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network, said fans get the oval stadium moving back and forth by stomping their feet and jumping up and down.
“It’s sort of what you see when a car rocks back and forth,” said Vidale, who is also a University of Washington earth and space sciences professor.
Vidale said a small quake was not all that surprising in the stadium, which is built on pilings dug through soft ground in earthquake country.
Structural engineers who plan buildings in Seattle often do so with room for movement, so when a natural earthquake happens the buildings aren’t so stiff that they crack and crumble.
Seattle fans also made record noise Monday, setting the Guinness World Record for loudest outdoor sports stadium noise at 137.6 decibels.
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Jason Dufner took to Twitter to ask tournament host Tiger Woods if the World Challenge could change to 36 holes on Thursday and Friday “so I can watch my beloved Auburn” play for the SEC Championship.
If nothing else, it got Woods to tweet something for the first time in a month: “Petition denied.”
Auburn and Missouri play at 1 p.m., so Dufner’s best hope is to play so poorly in the opening two rounds that he’s off the course by then. Woods, who went to Stanford, has no such problem.
The Cardinal and Arizona State play for the Pac-12 title at 4:45 p.m., well after the third round is over.
