<p>I saw something that mentioned how, during the 2018 World Cup, after a victory, thousand of fans jumping simultaneously caused seismologists to detect the equivalent energy release of a magnitude 2.0 earthquake. They then rhetorically posited the question, &quot;What if the entire global population gathered in one place and did the same thing?&quot;, but gave no answer. Therefore, I am wondering, is it possible to calculate, and if so what would be, the equivalent seismic magnitude of 8 billion people jumping?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-10-23T00:14:26.727Z
https://what-if.xkcd.com/8/
John
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-10-23T10:24:18.927Z
@John - That is an interesting and entertaining read but it doesn't answer my question. That focuses on the logistical problem of 8 billion people leaving Rhode Island and not the maths of the seismic energy release.
Ethan
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-10-23T11:58:13.867Z
...aaand just scaling up the number of people with the energy of a mag 2 earthquake doesn't work for this, as upper estimate?
AtmosphericPrisonEscape
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-10-23T20:16:09.370Z
@Ethan but the two sources in the beginning cover it in breathtaking detail. https://scienceblogs.com/dotphysics/2010/08/26/what-if-everyone-jumped and https://www.straightdope.com/21341323/if-everyone-in-china-jumped-off-chairs-at-once-would-the-earth-be-thrown-out-of-its-orbit
John
<earthquakes>
Could humans cause an earthquake?
Ethan
# Could humans cause an earthquake?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2023-10-22)

I saw something that mentioned how, during the 2018 World Cup, after a victory, thousand of fans jumping simultaneously caused seismologists to detect the equivalent energy release of a magnitude 2.0 earthquake. They then rhetorically posited the question, "What if the entire global population gathered in one place and did the same thing?", but gave no answer. Therefore, I am wondering, is it possible to calculate, and if so what would be, the equivalent seismic magnitude of 8 billion people jumping?

**Tags:** earthquakes

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: https://what-if.xkcd.com/8/  
> **username_0**: @username_1 - That is an interesting and entertaining read but it doesn't answer my question. That focuses on the logistical problem of 8 billion people leaving Rhode Island and not the maths of the seismic energy release.  
> **username_2**: ...aaand just scaling up the number of people with the energy of a mag 2 earthquake doesn't work for this, as upper estimate?  
> **username_1**: @username_0 but the two sources in the beginning cover it in breathtaking detail. https://scienceblogs.com/dotphysics/2010/08/26/what-if-everyone-jumped and https://www.straightdope.com/21341323/if-everyone-in-china-jumped-off-chairs-at-once-would-the-earth-be-thrown-out-of-its-orbit  

---

## 0 answers

