Fans jumping to Enter Sandman causes “Metallica Quake” as motion is recorded as a seismic event

Fans attending Metallica’s gig at Lane Stadium in Virginia last week caused a mini earthquake as they jumped along to the band’s popular track, Enter Sandman.

Activity from the gig, which occurred on 7 May, was registered by The Virginia Tech Seismological Observatory as a minor seismic event, which fans online are calling the “Metallica Quake”.

It’s believed the small tremor occurred as fans – more than 60,000 of them – jumped in unison to the opening chords of the mega hit. Fittingly, Enter Sandman is also used as the Virginia Tech Hokies football team entrance theme, whose home stadium is where the band got the earth shaking that very evening.

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“Metallica saved Enter Sandman for the final song of the night. It did not disappoint, shaking Lane Stadium so hard it registered on the Virginia Tech Seismological Observatory’s helicorder,” says Virginia Tech University, where the stadium resides (via Billboard).

Despite this, the shake was of course very minor in the grand scheme of things, posing no safety risk to others. Research associate at the Observatory, Martin Chapman, adds, “The magnitude would have been less than 1.0, too small to be felt even a mile away.”

You can check out the band’s performance below:

Metallica’s fans are quite the force, so much so that band are releasing a new film this year entirely dedicated to celebrating them. Titled Metallica Saved My Life, the film features interviews with the band members and some of its most loyal fans. They’ll share their own unique stories of finding community through Metallica’s music, and what it means to them.

You can view the full list of remaining tour dates for the band via their official website.