Every time Norway scores, the whole city of Bergen shakes
image: The graph shows the measured seismic signal during Norway’s goals in the match against Senegal.
Credit: University of Bergen
During Norway’s first match of the FIFA World Cup against Iraq on 17 June, several small vibrations were recorded on the seismometer. A particularly clear signal was observed when Erling Haaland scored.
The instrument again detected noticeable signals during Norway’s 3–2 victory over Senegal, played on the night of 22–23 June (Norwegian time), coinciding with Norway’s goals.
Measuring ground vibrations
The seismometer is located in the basement of the Science Building in central Bergen. It records ground vibrations down to one millionth of a millimetre. The figure shows the signal from the station during the match (the time axis is given in UTC, which is two hours behind Norwegian time).
Showing that Bergen has energy
The seismic signals observed may be generated either by people moving in synchrony or by sound.
“This shows that Bergen is a vibrant city with a lot of energy. Go Bergen, and go Norway,” say Professors Mathilde Sørensen and Lars Ottemöller at the Department of Earth Science, University of Bergen.
For more information, please contact:
Mathilde Bøttger Sørensen
Professor, Leader for the Geophysic Research Group
Department of Earth Science
University of Bergen
E-mail: mathilde.sorensen@uib.no