There were exhilarating scenes across Italy on Sunday after the national team defeated England 3-2 on penalties to win the European Championship for the first time in 53 years.
The collective cheers produced vibrations in the ground which the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV) detected as an earthquake from its seismic station at Montecelio, north of the Italian capital.
There were several peaks of “seismic activity” recorded throughout the game, according to the INGV, with the highest being when Leonardo Bonucci scored Italy’s third penalty shot in the compelling shootout.
It is not the first time that seismic activity has been recorded for non-natural reasons.
In Naples, cheers were recorded on several occasions between the 1980s and 1990s, when Diego Armando Maradona played in the city.
Other human activities, such as urban traffic, planes breaking the sound barrier, concerts and industrial and mining activities can also cause small vibrations felt by the earthquake measuring network.
Campioni d'Europa! https://t.co/1WdthE5rnD
— INGVterremoti (@INGVterremoti) July 12, 2021