SEATTLE — Seattle certainly knows how to rock... rock the seismic monitors, that is.
On June 19, Seattle hosted the U.S. men’s soccer team in the FIFA World Cup in a match against Australia.
Like with many anticipated large-crowd events in Seattle, the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network (PNSN) is tracking fan-made ‘earthquakes’ at the World Cup at Seattle Stadium (Lumen Field).
During the USA v Australia match, PNSN’s seismic stations captured the crowd response to both USA’s goals and the VAR decision overturning the offside call.
Alex Freeman’s USA goal and the VAR decision registered a 3.3 mm/s² at its peak, and the second goal registered 3.0 mm/s².
It should be noted that these fan events are not actual earthquakes.
The infamous Beastquake-- when Seahawks star Marshawn Lynch’s touchdown helped the Hawks win the 2011 NFC wild card playoffs-- registered 4.8 mm/s².
Then-PNSN director John Vidale estimated that Lynch’s touchdown had energy roughly comparable to a magnitude 1.0 or 2.0 earthquake, according to USA Today.
Taylor Swift registered an 11 mm/s² during her Eras Tour stop at Lumen Field in 2023, according to PNSN.
Live seismogram data will be streaming here during each of the six World Cup matches hosted in Seattle.
©2026 Cox Media Group
