We know Canberra Raiders fans are passionate, but are they loud enough to cause a footy quake?

This weekend Australian National University (ANU) researchers will be testing that theory, by measuring just what effect the screams and rumbles of the footy faithful have on the earth.

To do it, they will be setting up a seismometer in the stadium during Sunday's game.

ANU Professor Malcolm Sambridge said the machine that normally measures earthquakes will be recording the vibrations from the howling Green Machine fans.

"What we are hoping is that when the Raiders score it will create enough seismic energy to record it as a 'footy quake'," he said.

"We would expect to see something like a very small earthquake occurring under the stadium, not enough to do any damage, of course. But one that our very sensitive instruments can measure."

Researchers said they were particularly interested in measuring the tremor during the famous, stadium-shaking Viking clap.

Researchers are hoping to capture the tremor made when fans take part in the Viking clap. ( AAP: Lukas Coch )

"The Viking clap is something we hope to pick up because when people all clap together it creates what we call an acoustic wave, which is a sound wave," Professor Sambridge said.

"That connects to the ground and essentially makes the ground roll as well, makes the ground move and we pick up the movements in the ground."

Similar experiments have been done around the world, but researchers said it would be the first time a Rugby League footy quake would be measured.

And for those in the stands, Professor Sambridge said there was no need to be concerned.

"It will probably be a negative magnitude, " he said.

"Simply because not enough energy goes into the ground to cause much shaking — which is a good thing, not a bad thing."

The ANU said the strength of the Canberra Raiders footy quake should be known in the next few days.