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People say the coronavirus pandemic has had a seismic impact on our way of life -- and they're 1,000% right ... because seismologists are noticing how damn quiet it's gotten.

A geologist and seismologist named Thomas Lecocq, who works at an observatory in Brussels, Belgium, has noted the change in the vibrations he and his colleagues were recording from the Earth's surface -- saying they've reduced significantly since mid-March.

Of course, that's when most everyone else outside of China -- which was already grappling with the outbreak since at least February, if not sooner -- started implementing stay-at-home orders, quarantining guidelines, and in some cases ... nationwide mandatory lockdowns.

The Belgium study goes on to say vibrations in that immediate area caused by human activity has fallen by at least a third in recent weeks, which means people aren't driving on the roads, walking about ... or cranking their machines nearly as much as they normally do.

Needless to say, that same finding is probably being seen around other parts of the world, including here in the U.S., where we're always zooming around, especially on the coasts.

It's fascinating -- the seismologists in Brussels say the phenomenon is actually helping them pay more close attention to important stuff ... like incoming earthquakes, exact aftershock locations, oceanic noise and tectonic plate shifts they usually couldn't easily detect.

Georgia's Governor apparently lives under a rock, but crawled out long enough to make a shocking statement -- that he just found out people showing no symptoms can still spread COVID-19.

No joke ... Gov. Brian Kemp, who on Wednesday finally issued a stay-at-home order for Georgia, admitted he had just learned in the last 24 hours the virus could be spread by asymptomatic people.

We should probably say he "claimed" that because it seems impossible he, or someone on his staff, could have avoided information that's been widely known and disseminated for weeks.

Clearly, Kemp hasn't been listening to Dr. Anthony Fauci during the daily White House briefings with President Trump ... with whom Kemp is reportedly pretty tight.

Safe to say, Kemp would NOT be one of the governors Pete Buttigieg is hailing for showing leadership in a time of crisis.

Just ONE Kennedy Space Center employee testing positive for COVID-19 requires a massive and pricey operation to sanitize every inch of the complex.

According to federal docs, obtained by TMZ ... just under $191k in taxpayer dough is being paid to several companies contracted to sterilize the Kennedy Space Center in Florida and the Stennis Space Center in Mississippi.

One firm, LL & JP, received a total of $145,367 for cleaning "up to CDC standards for suspected or cases of Coronavirus Disease 2019" at Stennis ... which is NASA's largest rocket engine test facility.

According to the docs, the money came in 2 rounds -- first on March 18 for $80,986 and then again March 27 for $64,381. The second round came after 3 Stennis employees tested positive for the virus earlier this week.

Meanwhile, over at the legendary Kennedy Space Center, a firm called Brevard Achievement Center received $45,258 for janitorial services. The money was earmarked "for unanticipated precautionary coronavirus related tasks."

That's feds-speak for ... we had to scrub down real good after an employee recently tested positive for COVID-19.

Bottom line: There's no good place to contract coronavirus, but it's super expensive when it happens at NASA.

Call it a lockdown within the lockdown -- U.S. prisoners will be kept inside their assigned cells for the next 14 days in an effort to slow the spread of the coronavirus.

The Federal Bureau of Prisons announced Tuesday night its new guideline will go into effect beginning Wednesday ... calling for all inmates in every prison across the nation to be secured in their assigned cells/quarters to decrease the spread of COVID-19.

This is BOP's Phase 5 plan as it desperately tries to combat the outbreak in prisons across America. BOP also says -- to the extent practicable -- inmates will have access to programs and services offered under normal operating procedures, such as mental health treatment and education.

After 14 days, if BOP deems it necessary ... it can choose to extend the lockdown. BOP will also work with U.S. Marshals to "significantly decrease incoming movement" to its prisons.

An 18-wheeler hauling toilet paper across the country crashed and went up in flames on a Texas interstate ... and reams of priceless rolls ended up as roadkill.

The crazy scene unfolded on Interstate 20 early Wednesday morning, when the driver of the tractor-trailer lost control of the rig ... flipping the truck on its side and spilling the precious cargo.

The trailer loaded with commercial TP was engulfed in flames when firefighters arrived.

The crash created a huge traffic snarl during rush hour -- people are still apparently out on the roads in Dallas -- as crews worked to clear the smoldering wreckage. FYI ... Texas does not have a mandatory stay-at-home order.

A Southern California strip club has finally slammed its doors shut after a local news station rightly ratted them out for staying open ... but it took undercover work first.

The story's pretty wild ... L.A.'s own Fox 11 news team got tipped off about a strip joint in an unincorporated part of town, called City of Industry, CA, which went by the name of Bliss Showgirls. Apparently, they refused to comply with the shutdown order of non-essential businesses across the city and state ... and were still operating all the way through Friday.

The local news team sent some reporters of theirs undercover out to the club to record footage of several patrons coming and out, clearly showing Bliss was open for business.

Not only that, but Bliss' own social media accounts had defiantly stated they weren't closing, something the owner of the club told Fox 11 was due to a disgruntled ex-employee who had hacked the account. When they pressed him though ... he told them to piss off.

Switzerland is lighting up the Matterhorn to send a powerful message to its people ... as the country's being hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic.

The iconic 14,600-foot mountain in the Alps was illuminated with a projection of the word "#hope" over the colors of the Swiss flag. The mountainside shines over the nearby ski resort town of Zermatt. They also projected "#stayhome" on the mountainside.

The new beacon comes as Switzerland has surpassed 10,000 cases of COVID-19 ... the fifth European nation to do so.

Zermatt says the light display is meant to "show solidarity with all the people who are currently suffering and are grateful to all those who are helping to overcome the crisis."

The Matterhorn's illumination was done by Swiss light artist Gerry Hofstetter and will appear every night from after sunset until 11 PM ... for the foreseeable future.

U.S. Army soldiers based in South Korea won't be getting their fitness on in their usual spot -- the main gym on base is closed due to someone contracting the coronavirus.

Lt. Col. Robin Ochoa of the U.S. Army tells TMZ ... Camp Humphreys, located some 40 miles south of Seoul, will close it's so-called "super gym" because an individual on the base who tested positive for COVID-19 had recently visited the gym.

We're told staff is sterilizing the gym but hasn't determined when it will reopen, the location serves nearly 40,000 residents at Camp Humphreys ... the largest overseas base in the world. According to the military outlet Stars and Stripes, U.S. Forces Korea announced late Thursday an 11th individual affiliated with USFK tested positive for COVID-19 but provided no additional details about who or the timeline.

So far, there have been just over 9,200 cases in South Korea ... resulting in 131 deaths.

The coronavirus pandemic is taking lives worldwide ... and it apparently contributed to an Italian nurse taking her own life over the "heavy stress" of testing positive and possibly spreading it to others.

Daniela Trezzi -- a 34-year-old nurse who'd been treating patients at the San Gerardo Hospital in Monza in the very hard-hit region of Lombardy -- reportedly took her own life after spending a couple weeks at home sick.

She was presumably in quarantine after being diagnosed with COVID-19 earlier this month, but according to reports ... she had been working in the ICU of the hospital for days before Italy went on lockdown.

Trezzi was reportedly distraught over the notion she had spread the virus to other patients she worked on before she knew she had coronavirus herself.

Her hospital's general manager said she'd been home since March 10, but was not under surveillance. Her death is under investigation.

The National Federation of Nurses in Italy expressed "pain and dismay" over Trezzi's death, saying ... "Each of us has chosen this profession for good and, unfortunately, also for bad: we are nurses."

The federation added a similar instance of a nurse suicide occurred last week in Venice due to the "stress to which our professionals are subjected."

Greta Thunberg -- the 17-year-old climate activist -- says she spent the last 10 days in isolation after coming down with what she believes is COVID-19.

Yeah, listen up young people ... this is important.

Thunberg says she started to feel symptoms -- fatigue, shivers, sore throat and cough -- when she returned to Sweden from a trip around Central Europe roughly 2 weeks ago. Her father, who also traveled with her, had similar symptoms but "much more intense."

In Sweden, Greta says, people are not allowed to test for coronavirus unless they need emergency medical treatment -- so instead of clogging up the healthcare system, she self-isolated instead "in a borrowed apartment away from my mother and sister."

"I have therefore not been tested for COVID-19, but it’s extremely likely that I’ve had it, given the combined symptoms and circumstances."

The good news ... Greta says she's "basically recovered" but she's sending a strong message to young people -- warning them to TAKE EXTREME PRECAUTIONS so they don't infect someone else who might not handle it as well.

"THIS IS THE BOTTOM LINE: I almost didn’t feel ill. My last cold was much worse than this! Had it not been for someone else having the virus simultaneously I might not even have suspected anything."

"We who don’t belong to a risk group have an enormous responsibility, our actions can be the difference between life and death for many others."

Elon Musk's coming to the rescue as Los Angeles gears up to fight the deadly coronavirus ... because he's already following through with a promise to supply ventilators to patients in need.

California Governor Gavin Newsom just said the Tesla founder has already delivered the 1,000 ventilators he promised to Los Angeles, this less than a week after Elon said he was ready to pitch in for relief efforts with some much-needed medical supplies.

As we reported ... Elon offered to have one of his Tesla factories start making ventilators to help battle the COVID-19 pandemic after catching some flak on social media.