Was that a quake in Rome? No, a concert

When Travis Scott asked Rome to make some noise at the Circus Maximus on Monday, Rome cheerfully complied.

The 60,000-odd spectators jumped so vigorously that some locals panicked, thinking that an earthquake was under way. Archaeologists were alarmed by the vibrations and questioned the wisdom of holding musical events at an ancient site, where chariot races were held more than 2,000 years ago and to which Julius Caesar later added his own decorating touch.

The concert coincided with the release of Scott’s chart-topping new album, “Utopia.” He was joined by Ye, the rap star formerly known as Kanye West. The show in Rome marked Ye’s first concert appearance after a series of antisemitic remarks on social media and in interviews last year led to his expulsion from social media for a time and the loss of fashion design partnerships. When he came onstage, the crowd roared and jumped some more.

Romans, including those living some distance from the site, took to social media to lament shaking windows, beds and chandeliers. In more recent years, the Circus Maximus has played host to major open-air rock concerts, including shows by the Rolling Stones, Lady Gaga and, this summer, Bruce Springsteen, Guns N’ Roses and Imagine Dragons. The circus has also hosted the summer season of Rome’s opera.

Giovanni Diaferia ,a seismologist at the Italian Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology, writing on X, formerly known as Twitter, calculated: “60k people, 70 kg each, jumping and reaching 0.15 m from ground radiate an energy of E = 6.2 MJ which is equivalent to a magnitude 1.3 earthquake, at each jump!! Enough to be recorded by a seismic station 9 km away.”

On Tuesday, the institute said in an online note that its national seismic network stations “clearly registered the enthusiasm of Travis Scott fans in concert at Circus Maximus.”

Similar activity was registered in 2021, when Italy won the European Championship soccer final, as well as earlier this year when Naples won the Series A championship, the institute said.