Sports
A Seattle Earthquake We Want: Scientists Install Seismometers At CenturyLink
Scientists are preparing to measure a possible 12th man earthquake during Saturday's wild card playoff game.
SEATTLE, WA - Scientists from the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network installed six seismometers at CenturyLink field on Thursday in preparation for Saturday's playoff game between the Seahawks and the Detroit Lions.
As in years past, the PNSN scientists are betting that excited fans will shake CenturyLink.
The scientists aren't just measuring the shaking for fun; they want to see how the stadium and the ground react to seismic disruptions. Seahawks playoff games essentially provide scientists with a scheduled earthquake to study.
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"Scientifically we like to investigate how an excited crowd energizes the stadium structure to shake, and how that shaking propagates into the surrounding ground," the PNSN wrote on its Seahawks page.
The first fan-caused earthquake at CenturyLink was measured in January 2011. That's when Marshawn Lynch made a spectacular touchdown run during a playoff game against the New Orleans Saints; the ensuing fan excitement was picked up by nearby sesimometers.
Find out what's happening in Seattlefor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Here's what one of our instruments looks like when it's all set up! #Seahawks pic.twitter.com/00bq1xMKCo
— PNSN (@PNSN1) January 5, 2017
Image via Shutterstock
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