Scotland’s World Cup qualifying win reactions equivalent to small earthquake | Scotland

When Scotland qualified for the men’s football World Cup for the first time in 28 years, fans were thrown into wild celebration and even moved the world in the process.

According to the British Geological Survey (BGS), the reaction at Hampden Park was the equivalent of a mini-earthquake when Kenny McLean scored from the halfway line to score a thrilling 4-2 win over Denmark, who are ranked 18 places higher in the world than Scotland, according to the British Geological Survey (BGS).

BGS said the celebrations for McLean’s jaw-dropping goal were captured about 2km above ground by seismic activity monitors at the Glasgow Geothermal Observatory in Dalmarnock.

The reading, taken between 21:48 and 21:50 (when McLean’s audacious shot hit the goal and then the final whistle was heard), measured a fluctuation between -1 and zero on the Richter scale, producing the equivalent of 200 kW, enough to power 25 to 40 car batteries.

Kieran Tierney’s strike in injury time gave Scotland a 3-2 lead, although not as strong as McLean’s.

“Each year, around 300 naturally occurring earthquakes are detected in the UK, but only around 30 are of magnitude high enough to be felt by humans,” a BGS spokesman said, adding that seismic events caused by human activities such as sonic booms were also recorded. Most earthquakes in the UK are very small and do not cause damage.

A magnitude 3.3 earthquake was felt in homes in Perthshire last month.

Stadium events have caused seismographs to twitch in Scotland before, but none more so than the Oasis. The band’s Murrayfield concert in 2009 caused the strongest tremors in the two-decade tracking period, surpassing even Taylor Swift’s Edinburgh concerts last year and Harry Styles’ concerts in 2023.

Official attendance was 49,587 as Scotland finished top of Group C and took part in the 2026 World Cup alongside England. The team will now participate in the draw on December 5 for next summer’s tournament in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

Scotland last played in the World Cup in 1998.