Leicester City fans cause 0.4-magnitude 'Vardyquakes' at final home game

Elated Leicester City fans celebrating their team's historic Premier League title triumph triggered the biggest tremors yet at the King Power Stadium on 7 May. Goals scored by Jamie Vardy and Andy King in the Foxes' final home game of the season against Everton both registered earthquake magnitudes of 0.4.

Geology students at the University of Leicester have been monitoring small quakes produced by the sudden release of energy by Leicester fans – called "Vardyquakes" – via a seismometer installed at a school close to the King Power Stadium.

A last-minute equaliser scored by Leonardo Ulloa against Norwich City in February caused a quake with a magnitude of 0.3.

Leicester beat Everton 3-1 before being presented with the Premier League trophy on a day of celebration at the King Power Stadium. They were 5,000-1 outsiders to win the league at the start of the season. It was the first top-flight title in the club's 132-year history.

'Energetic fans'

"The fans must have been truly energised for their team to end the league on a high and we can see this with the seismic waves they produced," University of Leicester student Richard Hoyle told the BBC. "The signals we measured at Saturday's game were the biggest we have seen coming from the King Power Stadium since we started monitoring the matches.

"If we collate all the data from previous matches, out of all the LCFC goal scorers, Vardy is responsible for generating the most seismic activity since the project started – so perhaps there really is such a phenomenon as the Vardyquake!"

The A&E department at Leicester Royal Infirmary saw a 50% rise in people coming in overnight after Leicester lifted the Premier League trophy, with more than 90 patients treated for "drink-related injuries".

The Foxes will hold an open-top bus tour around the streets of Leicester to celebrate the title win with their fans on 16 May.