The ground literally moved after two goals that gave Mexico a win over Ecuador in the round of 32 of the 2026 World Cup. Mexico’s Digital Platform for Early Warning and Comprehensive Risk Management (SASSLA) reported that fan celebrations following the goals of Julián Quiñones and Raúl Jiménez caused a “significant artificial signal” recorded by the Raspberry Shake seismograph near the Mexico City Stadium.
The earthquake alert system noted on its social media accounts that “a burst of joy and great excitement caused tremors in the local area.” A similar thing happened when Mexico played Germany in the 2018 World Cup in Russia, when the Institute of Geological and Atmospheric Research of Mexico reported that, following Hirving Lozano’s winning goal, an earthquake signal of artificial origin was detected, “probably caused by a large jump” by the fans.
The phenomenon can occur thousands of kilometers from the venue: Geoscientists detected an earthquake in Bergen, Norway, when the national team scored goals in the elimination round last week.
The same thing happened in 2024, when Taylor Swift’s concert at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles produced long-term, low-frequency signals—high harmonics between 1 and 10 Hz—that were detected by earthquake monitoring sensors.
For several years now, the term “artificial earthquake” has been used to describe this type of unusual vibration recorded by earthquake systems during sporting events or large-scale games. However, various experts believe that this term is not an appropriate way to describe this type of condition.
First, it should be clarified that artificial earthquakes exist and have been the subject of research for decades. A study by the geoscience department at Durham University describes it as “man-made earthquakes,” caused by activities that can change the behavior of the earth, such as high-rise buildings, groundwater extraction, tunneling, advanced oil recovery, hydraulic fracturing (fracking), or underground gas storage.
Under this definition, vibrations detected by SASSLA systems that follow the principles of the Mexican group would not be considered “artificial earthquakes.” Experts explain that, in order for ground motion to be defined as an earthquake, it 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, a researcher at the Institute of Geophysics at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, explained a few years ago that, although human activity creates movements that can be recorded by seismographs, this does not mean that they are real geological events that can be measured using the magnitude of earthquakes or cause changes in the subsurface.
Iglesias added that seismic monitoring systems can detect small movements in the ground, whether natural or from human activities. He also noted that their learning can be influenced by factors such as the location of the stations, the characteristics of the area, or the intensity of certain activities taking place on the surface.
“Even if a person jumps near the sensor, it is detected, but it is not an earthquake. An earthquake caused by fan dispersal is a joke,” Iglesias emphasized.
However, the unusual vibrations produced by the simultaneous movement of thousands of people – as happened after Mexico’s national team scored its goals on Tuesday – have become a field of study in terms of merit.
Experts maintain that a better understanding of these signs will allow the development of more accurate methods of analyzing seismic activity and make it easier to distinguish between different types of vibrations recorded by instruments. In addition, this information can strengthen emerging applications, such as seismic interferometry—a technique that combines vibrations produced by daily sources to study the structure of the subsurface without the need for controlled explosions or waiting for natural earthquakes.
