Can the 12s repeat the ‘Beast Quake?’ Earthquake scientists will be monitoring
Jan 14, 2026, 6:01 PM
Leon Washington #33 of the Seattle Seahawks celebrates the Seahawks 41-36 victory against the New Orleans Saints during the 2011 NFC wild-card playoff game at Qwest Field on January 8, 2011 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo: Jonathan Ferrey, Getty Images)
(Photo: Jonathan Ferrey, Getty Images)
Seattle scientists expect the crowd at Saturday’s Seahawks playoff game against the 49ers to generate so much energy that they’ve installed earthquake-measuring equipment inside Lumen Field.
The devices were set up by the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network.
Director and University of Washington (UW) Professor Harold Tobin said they deployed similar devices for Seahawks playoff games in 2014, 2015, and 2017.
The inspiration was the 2011, 67-yard touchdown by Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch that triggered earthquake-detecting equipment and quickly became known as “Beast Quake.”
“That one was kind of just serendipity. We discovered that there was a seismic signal when that happened on one of our regular stations that was across the street,” Tobin said.
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6 seismometers installed at Lumen Field
For Saturday’s game, they’ve installed six seismometers that can detect motion in the stands and the field.
“When the ground moves up and down or side to side, it just measures that motion, and it sends it out as a continuous signal,” Tobin explained.
He said you may have seen old photos or videos of how the motion was recorded with a pen moving across a drum, years ago. Now it’s all digital, with seismometers sending information back to computers at the UW. The newer technology will also allow them to stream real-time results that fans can see at pnsn.org and on social media.
“For us, it’s a way to highlight what we do and what seismic waves are and how the ground can shake from a variety of things. Fortunately, it’s not an actual earthquake — we’re happy about that — but the motion of the stadium itself also pumps what we call seismic energy, or waves — shaking waves — into the ground,” Tobin said.
If there’s an educational component to setting up seismometers inside a football stadium, Tobin admitted there’s also an element of fun.
“We’re doing it because we know that the twelves are amazing and are going to shake the stands and shake the ground all around it,” he said.
As to whether the fans can generate Beast Quake level energy, “I have faith in the 12s to rock the house just every bit as much,” Tobin said.
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