I know y'all are tired of LSU football but last night I watched a replay of the game with my youngest son.

The Earthquake Game is the name given to a famous college football game played in front of a crowd of 79,431 at Louisiana State University's Tiger Stadium on October 8, 1988.

The game pitted Southeastern Conference rival Auburn Tigers against LSU and was one of the more notable games in the Auburn LSU rivalry. Along with national rankings, at stake was the eventual SEC title. The stadium was filled to capacity and the game was being broadcast on ESPN.

Auburn led the game 6-0 with less than two minutes remaining in the 4th quarter. LSU's quarterback Tommy Hodson drove the team down the field before finally throwing a last chance 4th down touchdown pass to Eddie Fuller. The reaction of the crowd registered as an earthquake on the seismograph located in LSU's Howe-Russell Geoscience Complex around 1,000 feet (305 m) from the stadium.

Surprised Fans, Stunned Geologists

When LSU fans learned that their reaction registered on a seismograph, they were pleasantly surprised. But LSU geologists were downright stunned.

Donald Stevenson, who worked for the Louisiana Geological Survey in 1988 and was in charge of LSU's seismic program, was the first to discover the seismograph reading. He went to the Howe-Russell Geoscience Complex the day after the game to change the recording charts in the seismic lab, and he noticed the large signal from Saturday night. When he realized the signal coincided with the touchdown, he labeled the seismogram and posted it in the building for all to see. "I knew it would be of interest to LSU fans after the game. What really amazes me is the interest that seismogram continues to generate so many years later."

The seismogram also caught the eye of Riley Milner, research associate with the Louisiana Geological Survey, on Monday morning. "It was a total surprise. We never expected the seismograph to pick up the ground shaking from a football game. It was a solid register of jubilation in the stadium."

What Made the Earth Move?

One question LSU fans have been debating for the past 20 years is whether it was the crowd noise or the simultaneous jumping up and down of more than 80,000 people that registered on the seismograph.

According to LSU geology professor Jeffrey Nunn, it was probably the jumping that did it. A seismograph measures ground motion, so the jumping up and down would be more likely, Nunn said. A cheering crowd would cause a sound wave in the air. For a sound wave to register on a seismograph, the air has to actually make the ground move. He paused. That does happen with sonic booms, so I guess a crowd could cheer loudly enough ...

That's cooool  8-)