Leicester City's now-realistic shot at the Premier League title is literally causing earthquakes at Leicester. Claudio Ranieri's men are almost – shockingly – favourites to win the title after an incredible season and it looks like their fans are having the best time soaking it all in.
A bunch of geology students from the University of Leicester recently recorded seismic activity when Leonardo Ulloa scored an 89th-minute winner against Premiership rival side, Norwich City. Having placed the earthquake detecting equipment at a school nearby, they found a sharp increase in seismic activity coinciding with the time the Argentine scored.
The equipment placed recorded a mini-earthquake of magnitude 0.3 thanks to Ulloa's strike. When Leicester played West Brom in midweek last season, an earthquake of magnitude 0.1 was recorded soon after Danny Drinkwater scored to equalise.
When asked about the spike in recordings, Richard Hoyle, a first-year student from Leeds, 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 our equipment was measuring small earthquakes produced by the sudden energy release by the cheering Leicester fans celebrating at the moment a goal was scored.”
Leicester City are five points clear of second-placed Tottenham Hotspurs with nine matches remaining in the Premier League. While Tottenham – and Arsenal, a further two points behind – have European and cup competitions to worry about, Leicester are solely focusing on the league and the absence from these tournaments is acting as a blessing-in-disguise.
As things stand, Leicester City could win their first ever Premier League title and Tottenham will – for the first time – finish above Arsenal in the Premier League.
