Real land shook after the two goals that guaranteed Mexico victory over Ecuador in the round of 32 World Cup 2026. Mexican Digital Platform for Early Warning and Comprehensive Risk Management (SNAP) reported that the cheering of fans following goals by Julian Quiñones and Raúl Jiménez caused a “massive spurious signal” recorded by the Raspberry Shake seismic instrument located near the Mexico City Stadium.
Earthquake warning system noted on his social media accounts that “bursts of joy and cheers sent tremors through the immediate area.” A similar thing happened during Mexico’s first match against Germany at the 2018 World Cup in Russia, when the Geological and Atmospheric Research Institute of Mexico reported that, following Hirving Lozano’s winning goal. seismic signal of artificial origin was discovered, “probably caused by mass flying” by fans.
It can happen thousands of miles from where the match is being played: Geophysicists detected an earthquake in Bergen, Norway, when the team scored goals in the knockout round last week.
Something similar happened in 2024, when Taylor Swift’s concert at the SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles produced long-term, low-frequency waves—with peaks in the horizontal range between 1 and 10 Hz—detected by seismic monitoring sensors.
For several years now, the term “fake earthquake” has been used to describe this type of unusual tremors recorded by seismological systems during sporting events or large-scale exhibitions. However, various experts believe that the word is not the most accurate way to describe this type of phenomenon.
First, it should be clarified that artificial earthquakes exist and have been the subject of research for decades. Research and the department of geosciences at Durham University defines it as “man-made earthquakes,” caused by activities that can change the geological character of the land, such as the construction of high-rise buildings, groundwater extraction, tunneling, enhanced oil recovery, hydraulic fracturing (fracking), or underground gas storage.
Under this definition, earthquakes detected by SASSLA systems following the Mexican team’s targets cannot be considered “fake earthquakes.” Experts point out that, for ground movements to be classified as earthquakes, they must be associated with a geological process. The mere fact that a seismograph records a disturbance does not mean that it can be classified as an earthquake.
Arturo Iglesias, researcher at the Institute of Geophysics at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, he explained several years ago that, although human activities produce movements that can be recorded by seismographs, this does not mean that they are real geological events that can be measured using seismic intensity or cause changes in a small part of the surface.
Iglesias added that earthquake monitoring systems are capable of detecting small movements in the ground, whether natural in nature or caused by human activity. He also noted that their readings can be affected by factors such as the location of the stations, the characteristics of the terrain, or the intensity of certain activities taking place on the surface.
“Even if someone flies near the sensor, it is detected, but it is not an earthquake. An earthquake caused by the scattered activities of fans is a joke,” Iglesias insists.
However, unusual vibrations caused by the movement of thousands of people—like the one that occurred after Mexico’s national team scored their goals on Tuesday—have become a more important area of research.
Experts maintain that a better understanding of these signals will enable the development of more accurate methods of analyze seismic activity and make it easy to distinguish between the different types of vibrations recorded by the instrument. Additionally, this knowledge can enhance emerging applications, such as seismicity—a technique that uses vibrations produced by everyday sources to study subsurface structure without the need for controlled explosions or waiting for a natural earthquake to occur.
