City Bergen, Norway, he shook on the night of June 22-23, not because there was an earthquake or unknown geological phenomenon. But because the Norwegian national team scored a goal during the 2026 World Cup. This engaging phenomenon was recorded by a team of scientists from the University of Bergen, who discovered that celebrating with a fan creates vibrations in the ground so intense that they can be detected even by very sensitive scientific instruments such as seismometers.
Generally, geophysicists utilize seismometers to measure ground movements and vibrations, such as seismic waves generated by earthquakes. However, during this year’s World Championships, scientists from the University of Bergen did just that noticed that the seismometer they have in the basement of campus is recording anomalous signals during Norway’s games. As they note, the instrument can detect ground vibrations with an accuracy of one millionth of a millimeter.
This activity, said professors Mathilde Sørensen and Lars Ottemöller statement accompanying their discoveries “shows that Bergen is a vibrant city with a lot of energy.” They ended the statement with: “Go to Bergen and go to Norway.”
The University of Bergen team first noticed irregularities during the match between Norway and Iraq on June 17, which the team won 4-1. The signal in this match became especially clear when the striker Erling Haaland he scored one of his two goals.
A few days later, on the night of June 22-23, during Norway’s 3-2 victory over Senegal, the phenomenon repeated itself: each Norwegian goal caused recognizable vibrations in the data collected by the seismometer.
As scientists explain, when thousands of people cheer, jump and scream at the same time, it generates a significant amount of energy energy which can penetrate buildings and penetrate the ground. In other words, collective enthusiasm became scientifically measurable in Bergen during this year’s World Cup, and while this is not the first time sporting events, as well as concerts or other enormous gatherings, have been detected, the case of the city of Bergen provides another example of how human activity can be recorded even by instruments designed to study the Earth.
This story originally appeared on WIRE Italy and was translated from Italian.