The Earth is feeling our vibes — or lack thereof — in the middle of a global lockdown to stop the novel coronavirus pandemic, according to scientists who listen to the planet’s internal noise for earthquakes.
The Earth isn’t exactly standing still, but humanity’s noisiest activities have virtually ground to a halt amid sweeping COVID-19 lockdowns, according to seismologist Thomas Lecocq of the Royal Observatory of Belgium.
We aren’t using our trains, cars or industrial machines nearly as much as usual, and the planet isn’t vibrating as much because of it, Lecocq told the journal Nature.
Lecocq says the background noise under the planet’s surface has plunged by 30 to 50 per cent since mid-March when the World Health Organization first