After Mexico stunned the world by beating defending World Cup champions Germany 1-0, there were reports of an earthquake in Mexico.
The Institute of Geological and Atmospheric Investigations said highly sensitive earthquake sensors registered tremors at two sites in the capital seven seconds after the game’s 35th minute. It called them an “artificial” quake.
The news about the tremor reverberated on social media as people around the world got carried away in the jubilation. How many countries can say their celebrations created an actual natural phenomenon?
However, Xyoli Pérez Campos, who heads Servicio Sismológico Nacional (SSN) – Mexico’s national seismological service – disagrees. Campos says the vibrations picked up by the seismometers do not resemble an earthquake, man-made or otherwise.
“It was probably a person, or people, jumping up and down next to the [seismology] station,” Campos told the National Geographic.
Elated fans waved Mexican flags and donned traditional sombreros at the iconic Angel of Independence monument in downtown Mexico City as they sang the country’s unofficial football anthem, “Cielito Lindo,” or “Pretty Little Sky,” a popular folksong.
In the city’s massive main square, families in Mexican football jerseys had watched on a giant screen in front of a towering cathedral as Mexico beat Germany 1-0 in Moscow.
When star player Hirving Lozano scored a goal in the 35th minute, supporters jumped up and down, shouting, “Yes, we did it!”
“El Tri,” as the team is called in homage to Mexico’s three-color flag, has failed make it past the round of 16 in the last six World Cups.
Mexico will face South Korea in its next game on Saturday in Rostov-on-Dov, Russia.