The reaction to the Seattle Seahawks’ comeback victory over the Green Bay Packers at CenturyLink Field this afternoon — sending the team to its second straight Super Bowl — was big enough that drivers probably should have thought twice about being on the nearby Alaskan Way Viaduct during the game.
Scientists from the the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network, who installed sensors at the stadium prior to the playoffs, said the seismic signals when Jermaine Kearse caught the game-winning pass appeared “close to a real earthquake.”
TOUCHDOWN @Seahawks!!! @DangeRussWilson to @chopchop_15 for a seismic signal close to a real earthquake! #QuickShake pic.twitter.com/TWlukl4fYK
— PNSN (@PNSN1) January 18, 2015
Measurements of seismic activity around the stadium are not new during Seahawks games, but this takes it to a new level. Here’s what it looked like in real time, as captured by someone monitoring the PNSN site.
The project aims to help the seismologists better detect real earthquakes and provide earlier warnings for the public.
The University of Washington has more on the project in this article about the seismologists and the reaction to the measurements during the first Seahawks’ playoff game, last week against the Carolina Panthers.
