Displacement like this seems like not such a big deal, especially when worded as it is in this article. You see "...several CM of displacement per year..." and

Displacement like this seems like not such a big deal, especially when worded as it is in this article. You see "...several CM of displacement per year..." and you immediately are lead to believe that this displacement is equal over the entire footprint of the structure. That is usually not the case. Instead, you end up with differential displacement over the entire footprint of the building. Some areas will sink 1cm, while others will sink 3cm. This "imposed displacement" puts the foundation under constant force, causing some tremendous force to be placed on the structure itself, as the foundation is now behaving as a beam of sorts.