Metallica concert registers as small earthquake after rocking Virginia Tech so hard

The electrifying tradition of Virginia Tech fans synchronizing their energy to Enter Sandman at football games reached a new level at Wednesday’s highly anticipated Metallica concert, culminating in unusual seismic readings during the very same song.

BLACKSBURG, Va. – A highly anticipated Metallica concert at Virginia Tech’s Lane Stadium wasn’t just a performance; it was a seismic event.

For Hokies, the opening chords of “Enter Sandman” have long been an electrifying and familiar soundtrack to football games, igniting a synchronized surge of jumping and cheering. 

This beloved tradition reached unprecedented levels Wednesday night in Blacksburg, as the estimated 60,000-strong crowd’s collective energy remarkably culminated in unusual seismic readings.

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A look at the night the Earth shook at at Virginia Tech’s Lane Stadium during a Metallica performance on Wednesday, May 8, 2025.

(Virginia Tech Athletics)

The Virginia Tech Seismological Observatory (VTSO) recorded ground tremors generated by the concert’s immense energy. The peak coincided precisely with the band’s iconic performance of “Enter Sandman.”

VTSO Director Martin Chapman confirmed to FOX Weather that their seismograph, situated approximately 1 mile from Lane Stadium, clearly registered the ground motion produced by the enthusiastic audience.

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The Virginia Tech Seismological Observatory recorded ground tremors generated by the concert’s immense energy. 

(Virginia Tech Seismological Observatory)

“Thanks for jumping with us, Metallica! Come back anytime,” Virginia Tech Athletics said, accompanying a video of the massive audience’s collective jumping, cheering and headbanging.

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While the minor seismic activity, quickly dubbed the “Metallica Quake” online, posed no danger, it was too minor to register on the Richter scale or be assigned a rating, the FOX Forecast Center said. 

“The magnitude would have been less than 1.0,” Chapman said. “Too small to be felt even a mile away.”