Habs playoff roar literally shook the city
Bell Centre fans' goal celebrations registered as microearthquakes—0.5 on the Richter scale during the last two playoff games.
When 21,000 people lose their minds at the Bell Centre simultaneously, it turns out you can measure it. During Montréal's last two playoff games—Saturday and Monday—fan celebrations registered as actual seismic activity at nearby universities.
Seismographs at Collège Jean-de-Brébeuf and McGill University picked up the tremors. The biggest ones, measuring 0.5 on the Richter scale, hit at 8:16 p.m. and 8:18 p.m. on Saturday, when the Bell Centre was packed and the fan zone outside heaving with bodies. That's not "we felt a vibration"—that's measurable ground movement.
It's a quirk of how crowd energy translates to physics: 21,000 people jumping in unison, screaming in unison, creates a kind of rhythmic wave that travels through the building's frame and into the earth. It's happened before at hockey games and concerts, recorded at universities with sensitive equipment. But it's a stunning reminder of just how loud this city gets when the Habs are winning.
The Canadiens have made it to the East Final. And if the seismic readings are any measure, Montréal's already celebrating hard.