Seahawks Fans Literally Cause Earthquake—Again

Seahawks fans jumped to their feet Saturday night during Marshawn Lynch's electrifying touchdown run against the New Orleans Saints—and their screaming and stomping caused a small earthquake. That sentence was true on Jan. 8, 2011 ... and on Jan. 11, 2014. In the weirdest kind of deja vu, seismologists with the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network say they believe Saturday's fan-generated quake was bigger than that of 2011, whose energy a nearby seismometer registered in line with a 1- or 2-magnitude quake at the time.

"This signal looks bigger than the one three years ago," the PNSN's director tells the Seattle Times, but it'll be a few days before the network knows for sure. But the PNSN was ready for this one: MyNorthwest.com reports it installed two seismometers in CenturyLink Field (one of the NFL's loudest stadiums, per the Times) in advance of the game, one on the field and one in the stands. There may just be something about the Seahawks-Saints match-up: The Times notes that a low-level temblor was recorded Dec. 2, 2013, after Michael Bennett scored a touchdown off a fumble—against the Saints. (More Seattle Seahawks stories.)