Vibrations in Neighborhood Buildings due to Rock Concerts in Stadiums

Rock-concert events in stadiums have raised complaints among dwellers of neighborhood buildings about annoying vibrations in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Wellington, New Zealand, Medellín, Colombia, and other cities around the world. Controversy about the causes and effects of vibrations has produced demands, alarms among inhabitants, and cancellations of spectacles with large economic consequences. Although the analysis and effects of vibrations on the stadium grandstands are well known, no comprehensive published paper could be found that addressed the effects of vibrations on neighborhood buildings when thousands of spectators jump on a stadium field. This paper covers this gap in civil engineering knowledge, introducing a systematic study (analytical and experimental) to explain the causes, predict building responses, and determine the size of the expected human, structural, and cosmetic effects on neighborhood buildings. First, the equations for modeling are presented: (1) the coordinated jump of the public on the field and the load generated, (2) the acceleration-wave propagation over the surface of an elastic solid, and (3) the responses of buildings at different distances from the stadium. The resulting equations are used to estimate the accelerations at building tops at distances within a radius of 3 km of the stadium. Second, the measurements planned and obtained during concerts are shown and evaluated. The results indicate that for buildings in resonance with the spectators’ jumps (natural frequency of 2.1 Hz for 10- to 12-story buildings in Buenos Aires), the acceleration level in the upper stories is severe to people at distances of more than 3 km from the stadium, but it is not high enough to cause structural or nonstructural damage.