If you were at Tiger Stadium Saturday you know the crowd played a significant role in LSU’s victory, so significant it registered on a seismograph. LSU Chair of Geology and Geophysics Darrell Henry says they recorded a seismic event during the last touchdown of the game and moments later when the Tigers converted the two-point conversion.
“It’s very much like other events we’ve seen in there before, but this is one of the best-recorded ones we’ve had yet,” said Henry.
Henry refers to the 1988 “Earthquake Game” against Auburn and most recently when Garth Brooks played Callin’ Baton Rouge live in April. Thirty-four years ago, Henry said an actual earthquake didn’t happen but there was major seismic activity recorded on a paper printout, now it’s measured electronically.
“And just causing shaking that was picked up even by that older instrument. It absolutely was amazing the similarities between these different events,” said Henry.
Watch the seismogram register TWICE while you listen to @LSUTigersVoice’s calls of the @LSUfootball game vs. Alabama.
Learn more about the seismogram with @LSUGeology professors: https://t.co/VNE0zxZrHz pic.twitter.com/jEJmNY4fyZ
— LSU (@LSU) November 7, 2022
Henry said a seismic event occurs when energy goes through the ground and causes everything to shake, and a seismometer measures the vertical motion in the ground. As for the last two plays of the game Saturday…
“We could pin down exactly when that happened, and it corresponds to when everybody was so excited and they were jumping up and down they transferred a tremendous amount of energy,” said Henry.
Henry said it’s hard to compare a paper recording of the 1988 game to Saturday’s but when you view electronic recordings of Garth Brooks and the victory over Alabama, they were both prolonged events for the length of the song and fans storming the field after LSU’s 32-31 victory over Alabama.
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