Soccer fans took their reputation as a passionate community to a new level Sunday when an earthquake tracking agency in Mexico detected an "artificial earthquake" that it said could be linked to World Cup fan celebrations in Mexico.
"The #sismo detected in Mexico City originated artificially," the agency tweeted, adding that the possible cause of the detection could be "massive jumps during the goal from the Mexico national soccer team."
According to the agency, the detection came from Mexico City just as Mexico had scored against Germany in the 2018 World Cup being held in Russia. Mexico, who was not favored to win the game, beat Germany 1-0.
Soccer fans took to social media with pride following the earthquake detection. "There was an artificial earthquake in Mexico City caused by the celebration of mexico's goal and if that doesn't tell you how passione mexican fans are then I don't know what will," one twitter used said.
"An artificial earthquake happened in Mexico after they scored caused by all the celebration," another fan tweeted. "Holy crap I love my country."
The intense celebrations were fed in part by a consensus among sports analysts that Mexico would lose the game. "The Germans have a tricky opener but past form suggests they'll have little trouble," The Telegraph newspaper predicted before the game.
The last two times Germany won the World Cup, in 1990 and 2014, the team dominated in its first appearance, scoring four goals in each opening game. Germany had also put four past Mexico last summer.
SIMMSA Mexico, the agency that detected the earthquake, is a division of the Institute of Geological and Atmospheric Research. "Our mission is to keep you informed about seismic events, their characteristics, as well as to analyze the complex mechanism of these natural events of our planet, a description on the agency's website said.
While uncommon, fan-caused earthquakes are not unprecedented. In 2011, NFL running back Marshawn Lynch ran for a 67 yard touchdown that ultimately proved to be enough to move the team past defending Super Bowl Champions, The New Orleans Saints. Fan celebrations in the area were so pronounced that tremors were detected on a seismograph.
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