What Liverpool title celebrations measured on the Richter scale
- Tom Murphy
- May 1
- 2 min read
Updated: Aug 14
Liverpool have announced that the clinching of the Premier title on Sunday produced a real life seismic event. Arne Slot’s side secured the club’s 20th league crown at home in a 5-1 victory against Tottenham Hotspur on what was an unforgettable day at Anfield.
With help from the University of Liverpool scientific data showed the upturns of ground movements during the game, most notably when the six goals were scored.
Data was collected from a seismometer placed in the Main Stand at Anfield and was later processed and analysed inside the University's Department of Earth, Ocean and Ecological sciences by researchers Dr Antoine Septier and Dr Farnaz Kamranzad.
It shows that Alexis Mac Allister's strike in the 24th minute that put the Reds 2-1 in front produced a peak magnitude of 1.74 on the Richter scale.
In second came Mohamed Salah's goal in front of the Kop in the second half which caused the scale to reach 1.60. This was closely followed by the own goal from Destiny Udogie and Liverpool's fifth, on 1.35.
On the findings, Ben Edwards, professor of engineering seismology at the University of Liverpool said: “This experiment gave us a unique opportunity to use seismology to capture a scientific record of the magnitude of Liverpool's historic title-clinching win.
"Using state-of-the-art, seismic-monitoring equipment – normally deployed in earthquake zones like Chile and Italy – we recorded the incredible energy released both at the surface and below.
"Much like natural seismic events, these goals produced bursts of ground-shaking, triggered by the sheer passion of Liverpool fans. Their enthusiasm was literally powerful enough to move the Earth.
"We hope this work will inspire young people to engage with science and see Earth science as essential to building a more sustainable future."
Slot and members of the Liverpool team were taken aback by the immense atmosphere generated in their triumphant win.
"During the game, after the game, it's been incredible how the support of the fans were and how our players played," Slot said.
Ange Postecoglou was also quick to praise the noise that Anfield produced on Sunday evening.
He told reporters: “I thought just in general we had decent territory but once they got in front with the atmosphere inside the stadium, fair to say it was going to be difficult for us to claw them back and that's how it proved."
This story was written and published for the Liverpool Echo:
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