ROME — When Travis Scott asked Rome to make some noise at the Circus Maximus on Monday, Rome cheerfully complied.
The nearly 60,000 spectators jumped so hard that some locals were frightened, thinking an earthquake was occurring.
Archaeologists were alarmed by the vibrations and questioned the wisdom of holding musical events in such an ancient place, where chariot races were held more than 2,000 years ago and to which Julius Caesar later added his own decorative touch.
The concert coincided with the release of Scott's new album, "Utopia," which tops the charts.
In addition, it featured the collaboration of Ye, the rap star formerly known as Kanye West.
The Rome concert marked Ye's first performance after a series of anti-Semitic comments on social media and in interviews last year that led to him being banned from social media for a time and losing his collaboration in fashion design.
When he came out on stage, the audience roared and jumped a little more.
In this file photo taken on October 7, 2018, American rapper Travis Scott performs on stage at the ACL Music Festival at Zilker Park in Austin. Photo by SUZANNE CORDEIRO / AFP)
Romans, including those who lived some distance from the site, took to social media to lament the shaking of windows, beds and chandeliers.
In recent years, the Circus Maximus has hosted major outdoor rock concerts, such as those of the Rolling Stones, Lady Gaga and, this summer, Bruce Springsteen, Guns N' Roses and Imagine Dragons.
The circus has also hosted the summer season of the Rome Opera.
Giovanni Diaferia, seismologist at the Italian Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology, writing in X, formerly known as Twitter, calculated: "60k people, of 70 kg each, jumping and reaching 0.15 m from the ground radiate an energy of E = 6.2 MJ which is equivalent to an earthquake of magnitude 1.3, in each jump!!
Enough to be recorded by a seismic station 9 km away."
On Tuesday, the institute said in an online note that stations in its national seismic network "clearly recorded the enthusiasm of Travis Scott's fans in concert at the Circus Maximus."
Similar activity was recorded in 2021, when Italy won the final of the European Football Championship, as well as earlier this year, when Napoli was proclaimed champion of Serie A, according to the institute.
A seismogram identified several spots during the concert, which lasted less than 90 minutes, "with obvious peaks of jubilation" from fans, according to the institute.
Workers at the Circus Maximus dismantling the stage of the Travis Scott concert on Thursday. The concert at the Circus Maximus in Rome by American rapper Travis Scott has set off alarms: is an archaeological park with more than 2,800 years of history the ideal setting for 60,000 fans to sing and dance to the point of blowing up seismographs and provoking the panic of the Romans? EFE/ Antonello Nusca
After the event, Alfonsina Russo, responsible for the Archaeological Park of the Colosseum, the most important archaeological site in Rome, asked the municipal authorities to stop using the Circus Maximus for mass events and give it a more cultural use.
Russo told AGI news agency Tuesday that the circus is a historical monument, not a stadium, and that "mega-concerts put it in danger."
Expert archaeologists had advised the city for such events, and Russo said he had expressed concern about decibel levels and spectators jumping at the venue.
"In my opinion, musical events can be held, but they must be chosen carefully, such as opera and ballet," he told AGI.
"Rock concerts are best held in stadiums so as not to jeopardize public safety."
There was a moment of panic during Scott's show.
Italian media reported that about 60 people had to be treated for eye and throat irritation, possibly because someone used pepper spray in the crowd.
Almost five years ago, the use of pepper spray in a nightclub, where a rapper was to perform, in the city of Corinaldo, in central Italy, caused a stampede in which six people died and almost 200 were injured.
Attempts to contact the organizers of Scott's concert were unsuccessful.
In 2021, 10 people were crushed to death and hundreds more injured at a Scott concert at his Astroworld festival in Houston.
Scott was investigated, but a grand jury declined to indict him or others connected to the festival.
Several lawsuits are pending against Scott and festival organizers.
On Wednesday, Alessandro Onorato, Councillor for Tourism and Events at Rome's City Council, defended the mega-concerts.
Beyond the money spent by attendees around the world, he said, fees for using the Circus Maximus for concerts last year brought 2.1 million euros, or $2.3 million, into municipal coffers.
The funds went to the municipal department that is responsible for the maintenance of municipally owned archaeological monuments, he added.
Without these fees, Roman taxpayers would have to pay, he said in a Facebook livestream.
"There were no incidents or injuries," he said of Scott's concert.
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