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On November 23, 2013, Seattle Seahawks running back Russell Wilson scampered into the end zone for what appeared to be an ordinary touchdown. But within seconds, it became a sensation. The entire stadium had been shaking! Turns out, Wilson's power touchdown had triggered a large number of earthquake monitoring instruments in the Puget Sound area.

As it happened, seismographs in Seattle, Tacoma, and Vashon Island recorded Wilson's seismic activity at 3:26pm. The sensors recorded a 1.3 magnitude earthquake that lasted about two seconds—right around the time Wilson crossed into the end zone. According to the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network (PNSN), the quake was "associated with vigorous jumping by several thousand football fans". PNSN said the sensors indicated that the jumping was actually in sync with Wilson's "beast-mode celebration."

Geologists call stadium-shaking seismic activity "stompquakes." And while stompquakes caused by the enthusiastic behavior of fans at sporting events, concerts and political rallies are a fairly common occurrence, what's so fascinating about the Beast Quake is that scientists are now investigating whether the data from the stadium stomping can be used to measure the seismic activity of real earthquakes.

"If successful, this methodology would allow us to deploy thousands of new earthquake sensors with very little cost," says Dr. Steven Malone of the University of Washington Seismology Laboratory. "This would be particularly valuable in the Seattle region, where earthquake hazards are high, and we want to get as many sensors out there as possible to ensure public safety."

Here's how the Beast Quake data can help: Because the Seahawks' Qwest Field is covered by 36 seismic sensors spaced just feet apart, the Beast Quake provided scientists with a dense network of instruments that provide detailed and continuous data on how stadium vibrations work. These detailed data might allow seismic scientists to filter out the noise caused by large crowds at an event, thereby enabling the use of stadium sensors for real earthquakes.

And it would not be particularly hard to differentiate the seismic data of a stompquake from a natural earthquake. According to PNSN research geophysicist John Vidale, "a stompquake is typically a one-off event with a fairly short duration, and we can detect other characteristic waveforms that allow us to distinguish it from an earthquake."

So next time you're watching a Seahawks game at Qwest Field and get caught in the excitement of what appears to be another Russell Wilson touchdown and subsequent "beast-mode" celebration, remember: You might just be contributing to science.