Rejoicing Mexican fans celebrating their team’s match-winning goal against Germany in the World Cup may have triggered a mini-earthquake.
On Sunday morning, earthquake monitoring stations in Mexico City detected a small tremor which appeared to have no natural cause.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
It would prove to be the only goal of the game, giving Mexico a surprise victory over the heavily favoured German side.
In a tweet, SIMMSA - the seismological branch of the country’s Institute for Geological and Atmospheric Studies - said that the fans leaping out of their seats to celebrate the goal may have triggered the mini-quake, which was too slight to be noticed by humans.
Man-made tremors are not an unknown phenomenon. “Induced seismic activity has been measured from everything from nuclear testing to fracking”, says USA Today.
“The earthquake detected in Mexico City was of artificial origin,” they wrote. “Possibly from mass jumping during the Mexico side’s goal in the World Cup.”
The feelgood explanation did not convince everyone, however. Arturo Iglesias, a geophysicist at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, cast doubt upon the claims, telling Spanish daily El País that the idea that fan activity could trigger an earthquake was nothing more than a “leg-pull”.
“If a person jumps up and down besides a sensor, it picks it up, but that isn’t an earthquake,” he said.
-
Political cartoons for December 4Cartoons Thursday’s political cartoons include a nap for Donald Trump, rage bait of the year, artificial intelligence turning on its master and more
-
Wake Up Dead Man: ‘arch and witty’ Knives Out sequelThe Week Recommends Daniel Craig returns for the ‘excellent’ third instalment of the murder mystery film series
-
Zootropolis 2: a ‘perky and amusing’ movieThe Week Recommends The talking animals return in a family-friendly sequel
-
Femicide: Italy’s newest crimeThe Explainer Landmark law to criminalise murder of a woman as an ‘act of hatred’ or ‘subjugation’ but critics say Italy is still deeply patriarchal
-
Brazil’s Bolsonaro behind bars after appeals run outSpeed Read He will serve 27 years in prison
-
Americans traveling abroad face renewed criticism in the Trump eraThe Explainer Some of Trump’s behavior has Americans being questioned
-
Claudia Sheinbaum and Mexico’s sexual harassment problemUnder the Radar Claudia Sheinbaum vows action against sexual harassment after viral incident, but machismo and violence against women remains deeply ingrained
-
Nigeria confused by Trump invasion threatSpeed Read Trump has claimed the country is persecuting Christians
-
What is Donald Trump planning in Latin America?Today’s Big Question US ramps up feud with Colombia over drug trade, while deploying military in the Caribbean to attack ships and increase tensions with Venezuela
-
Sanae Takaichi: Japan’s Iron Lady set to be the country’s first woman prime ministerIn the Spotlight Takaichi is a member of Japan’s conservative, nationalist Liberal Democratic Party
-
Russia is ‘helping China’ prepare for an invasion of TaiwanIn the Spotlight Russia is reportedly allowing China access to military training
