Geology Students Find Leicester Fans Celebrating Caused Seismic Activity Spike

In further evidence of football's impact on the natural world, Leicester City's exploits in the Premier League this season are having—quite literally—seismic effects.

The Foxes have found themselves creeping toward a remarkable first Premier League title and are five points clear of their nearest challengers with nine games to go.

And their fans have been getting in on the fun, reported the Press Association (h/t the Guardian).

Tim Ireland/Associated Press

A group of geology students from the University of Leicester have noticed a phenomenon called the "VardyQuake," which sees a spike in seismic activity whenever Claudio Ranieri's side find the back of the net.

In fact, Leonardo Ulloa's late winner against Norwich last month caused a tremor with a magnitude of 0.3.

Geological science student Richard Hoyle said:

"

A few days after we installed the equipment at the school and were analysing data collected, we noticed large peaks on the seismogram during football matches being held in the stadium nearby.

A closer look showed us there was a strong correlation between the exact time Leicester scored at home and the occurrence of the large seismic signals.

We concluded that our equipment was actually measuring small earthquakes produced by the sudden energy release by the cheering Leicester fans celebrating at the moment a goal was scored.

"

Just imagine the jolt that could be felt around the Midlands should Leicester lift the trophy in May.

[PA (h/t Guardian)]