When Metallica hit the stage at Lane Stadium on May 7, it wasn’t just another stadium show, it became a scientifically confirmed minor seismic event.
As the opening chords of “Enter Sandman” rang out at the show, more than 60,000 fans jumped together, creating enough force to register ground movement. The Virginia Tech Seismological Observatory, located a mile away, detected tremors during the set and later confirmed that the crowd had, quite literally, shaken the earth.
“Metallica saved ‘Enter Sandman’ for the final song of the night. It did not disappoint, shaking Lane Stadium so hard it registered on the Virginia Tech Seismological Observatory’s helicorder. Nothing compares to experiencing it live, but this multi-camera video shared by the band comes pretty close,” Virginia Tech’s website reported.
While the tremors posed no danger to the public, the moment quickly earned the nickname “Metallica Quake” across social media. According to the FOX Forecast Center, the seismic activity was too minor to be rated on the Richter scale.
“The magnitude would have been less than 1.0,” said Virginia Tech Seismological Observatory research associate Martin Chapman. “Too small to be felt even a mile away.”
For locals, the track holds deeper meaning. “Enter Sandman” has soundtracked Virginia Tech Hokies football team entrances for years, blasting through the stadium speakers to fire up the crowd.
Virginia Tech Athletics shared the moment online, saying, “Thanks for jumping with us, Metallica! Come back anytime.”
The concert was part of Metallica’s M72 World Tour, which supports their eleventh studio album 72 Seasons. The tour features two-night stops in each city, with no repeated songs across either set. Support acts on this leg include Pantera, Limp Bizkit, Suicidal Tendencies, and Ice Nine Kills.
72 Seasons debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 following its release in April 2023. The set debuted with 146,000 units earned, achieving the largest week by units for any rock or hard rock album in over three-and-a-half years. It also marked the band’s 12th top 10 charting album, of which nine have reached the top two. 72 Seasons also marked the band’s first original album in seven years.
Last month, Metallica also dropped the first trailer for their upcoming fan-focused documentary, Metallica Saved My Life, directed by the band’s longtime collaborator, Grammy-winner Jonas Åkerlund, which will be screened in select cities on the band’s ongoing M72 world tour.
In a statement on April 8, the group wrote, “As a few of you may know, we’ve been working behind the scenes the last couple of years on a new film that will be released later this year starring you guys! Metallica Saved My Life explores our world through the lives of fans who have supported each other through highs, lows, trials and triumphs for over four decades. And yeah, we’re in it a little bit too.”
