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Video: Well-Designed Buildings Sway, But Stay Standing in Japan Quake
- JoeAltmaier 16y agoDamn.
- JoeAltmaier 16y agoSorry, that was just my tounge-tied way of expressing admiration for the tremendous skill of Japanese civil engineers. Surely those building were designed without expecting them to survive an 8.9 earthquake, yet survive they did. I am in awe.
- vinutheraj 16y agoWas the video taken after the earthquake had stopped ? The camera seems to be fixed, no movement at all ?!
- BoppreH 16y agoMaybe they used software correction or a self-balancing camera apparatus.
- forgottenpaswrd 16y agoThey could be using software correction. That explains only one building moving a lot, very small movement on the others(reference part of the frame fixed).
- stellar678 16y agoIsn't it generally expected that skyscrapers will be pretty well-engineered? Are there any examples of skyscrapers being significantly damaged by an earthquake?
- icarus_drowning 16y agoWell, sure. But we don't usually get dramatic video illustrating just how well engineered they are. I tried to think of an incident where a skyscraper was significantly damaged in an earthquake, but I couldn't off the top of my head. All I remember was how well Taipei 101 stood up to the earthquake that occurred while it was being built[1]. 1: https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Taipei_101#Structural_Design https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Taipei_101#St...
- CountSessine 16y agoThere's this...it wasn't an earthquake but it does represent the other end of the spectrum for building codes for large buildings. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/5685963/Nine-held-over-Shanghai-building-collapse.html http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/5685963...
- gojomo 16y agoYes, but 8.0+ quakes near major cities are rare enough that there's limited experience to draw from. There hasn't been anything over 7.3 affecting the lower-48 United States in over a hundred years; nothing over 7.9 in over 300 years. (There was a ~9 in the pacific northwest in 1700.) Japan's building standards are said to be the best in the world. An 8.0+ near a US city could include some nasty surprises for buildings of all types.
- mkramlich 16y agoThat comment is just begging for the C. K. Louis routine to be cited. ;)
- trafficlight 16y agoIt's Louis C.K. His last name is Szekely. I'm not sure where the C.K. comes from.
- koenigdavidmj 16y agoModern engineering rocks.
- suyash 16y agoHats off to Japanese engineers and architects!