Techniques to earthquake-proof a building include the use of counterweights, such as a massive column or pendulum, to dampen the impact of seismic activity and isolating a building's structure from its base.

Engineering tall structures requires managing wind, earthquakes, and other destabilizing factors

Reinforced concrete, energy dampers, braced frames, flexible structures, and aerodynamic decks were among the methods implemented when building structures such as the Shanghai Tower, the Texas Super Skyscraper, and the South Rangitīkei Viaduct.

The world's largest earthquake simulator is an 800-ton shake table facility in Miki, Japan, which was built to test the resilience of structures after the 1995 Kobe earthquake killed over 6,000 people.

A Manhattan building doomed to collapse was saved in secret

After completing the Citicorp Center, its engineer realized that cost-cutting measures to use bolted instead of welded joints made the building vulnerable to collapse under quartering winds. For three months, crews worked in secret at night to reinforce the building under Project Serene.

Infrastructure built to limit tsunami damage includes channels to divert water, floodgates, and seawalls, such as the approximately 400-kilometer (249-mile) wall built in Japan after the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami.

Machu Picchu, 101

Machu Picchu was built right on top of two intersecting fault lines, which makes it even more baffling how its temples and terraces have survived for more than 500 years—especially since no mortar was used to hold the precisely cut stones together. As this three-minute NatGeo video explains, this ingenious construction method allows the stones to bounce in place when earthquakes hit, shaking and rattling but rarely collapsing.

Earthquakes of identical magnitudes are unlikely to cause equal damage because magnitude only measures energy released, and earthquake severity depends on environmental factors, such as local architecture and geological conditions.

Enhanced geothermal power systems can trigger earthquakes by injecting fluid into rock, increasing subterranean pressure.

The ancient engineers inspiring modern building practices

Modern concrete structures need replacing every 50 to 100 years, so why are buildings by the Maya, ancient Rome, and ancient China still standing strong? This article details how scientists are looking into humanity's past for clues on how to craft long-lasting structures. Part of the problem is adopting old material recipes to hold up to modern demands.

Rather than predicting them in advance, earthquake early warning systems detect tremors moments after they begin and send notifications that reach users before the seismic activity does.

Small elevation differences drastically protect homes in hurricanes

The construction of seaside homes has long involved building residences on elevated stilts, but this feature adds costs—and some elevated homes still fail. Explore the engineering behind the ideal height of a hurricane-proof building.

Wave tanks can be used to create and study the impacts of tsunamis by building tension in an underwater object before allowing it to slip and rapidly displace water.

Explore the world's most famous leaning towers and structures

Pisa gets all the fame, but the quirk of a tilt adds precarious charm to dozens of famous buildings around the world. There are Pisa replicas, but also old castle towers, crooked houses and tilted churches and mosques.

Due to their enormous size, wind turbines are assembled on-site using prefabricated components, advanced cranes, and vibration-damping systems to withstand the dynamic ocean environment.

Thunderquakes—seismic waves created when lightning strikes the ground—have enabled scientists to image underground environments near Earth's surface by detecting vibrations along subterranean fiber-optic cables.

Climate resilience strategies, which help communities mitigate the effects of climate change, include painting roofs white, building clam gardens, harvesting fog, and feeding cows seaweed.

What makes the Earth shake?

Researchers are demystifying the science of earthquakes—from their origins deep within the Earth to the scales that measure their strength. This article, which was part of a series of weekly reports from Cornell University, serves as a guide to...

Micro-seismic activity has been produced from people cheering or dancing at sporting events, concerts, and other large gatherings, but scientists can easily distinguish these vibrations from natural earthquakes using seismometers.

Although earthquakes cause about 80% of tsunamis, almost all earthquakes lack sufficient energy to cause the sudden shift in the ocean floor needed to substantially displace enormous volumes of water.

Leaning Italian tower could fall after nine centuries

Italian officials have secured the area around one of two 12th Century towers in Bologna, fearing its leaning could lead to collapse. Could it fall? Read up on the city's efforts to secure it here.

The construction of LIGO needed to compensate for Earth's curvature

Across the 4-kilometer (2.5-mile) arms, the height of Earth's surface falls by almost a meter, preventing the lasers traveling within the arms from meeting the mirror at the end of each. Concrete slabs built beneath the arms help keep them level and provide structural support against seismic vibrations.

Why Water Towers Are Built This Way

Why are ancient ruins underground?

When cities fall into disrepair, it's often easier to flatten what you can and build on top. This is why modern archaeologists frequently discover ruins underground, revealing generational layers of cities rebuilt over time. This video explores major examples of this principle, from ancient Troy to even modern Seattle.

Scientists determine earthquake locations by comparing how long it takes different seismic waves to be detected at three stations around the world, from which an origin, or hypocenter, can be triangulated.

Tectonic earthquakes are caused by tectonic plates sliding past one another at fault zones, deforming rock through friction as energy builds like a stretched rubber band.

The earliest earthquake-detection device—the seismoscope—was invented in China in 132 CE and featured eight ball-wielding dragons facing different directions.

The Bomb-proof, Cold War-era New York data center inspiring spy movies

At 33 Thomas Street in Lower Manhattan, New York City, a 45-story concrete tower with no windows stands imperiously over the city. Inside, 18 floors of telecommunications technology have hummed for decades. The building's purpose—to protect US comms from nuclear fallout—and its design have played into spy movie plotlines. Dive into the building's curious role in pop culture with this long read.

Likened to a car backfiring or a faraway cannon fire, skyquakes have been reported worldwide in Earth's atmosphere without any obvious cause.

Because seismic waves travel 100 times faster than tsunami waves—waves typically travel faster through solids than liquids—measurements of geological activity help tsunami detection systems provide early warnings.

Predicting earthquakes is difficult because different rock types can withstand different amounts of stress before breaking and melt at different temperatures within Earth's interior, introducing uncertainty into predictive models.

The tallest tsunami in recorded history was 524 meters (1,720 feet) high—taller than the Empire State Building—and occurred in Lituya Bay, Alaska, in 1958 after an earthquake dislodged a rockface into the water.

Explore tips from the American Red Cross on preparing for a tornado

If you live in a region prone to tornadoes, have a plan to retreat to a safe room built to withstand strong winds, such as an underground shelter or a windowless room at the lowest level of a study building, in case of a tornado warning. Having a stay-at-home kit with non-perishable food and water, medications, batteries and chargers, and a battery-powered radio is also essential.

Eleven architects collaborated to create the UN building in NYC

Renowned leaders in the field, accustomed to control over their projects, had to work together to complete the building. This quick article explores the tensions and cooperation of the architects to complete the UN building.

Why Turkey's earthquakes were so deadly

The death toll from February 2023 has reached the tens of thousands, making it one of the deadliest natural disasters of the century. The intense seismic activity combined with poor and unregulated construction in many areas to drive fatalities....

Carbon-neutral data centers may be possible if built within wind turbines

Wind turbine towers are typically hollow, housing only cables and a ladder for maintenance access. The excess electricity a wind turbine collects could power a stack of server racks more than 100 meters (328 feet) high within its tower.

View a map of the world's major earthquakes from 1956 to 2022, which can be used to identify tectonic plate boundaries.

How did the Inca build Machu Picchu?

How did the Inca, a people without iron or steel, build a city that has withstood hundreds of years of earthquakes and inclement weather? Machu Picchu stands atop steep landslide prone slopes and active fault lines and gets up to 80 inches of rain...

Should you get earthquake insurance?

Standard home insurance doesn’t typically cover earthquakes. Even if you don't live in a state that's known for its earthquakes like California, it might be worth considering—although it's worth noting that only 13% of California residents have earthquake insurance. Learn more about earthquake insurance in this article.

NASA's GUARDIAN software uses changes in satellite navigation signals and AI-powered detection algorithms to anticipate tsunamis and provide real-time alerts to at-risk communities before the phenomena are detected by tidal sensors.

The frequency of earthquakes and the distribution of their magnitudes have not changed significantly over long-term records, but technological improvements have enabled scientists to detect more of them as they occur.

Some earthquakes can produce smaller tremors called boomerang earthquakes, which travel in the opposite direction and ripple back to the original earthquake's source.

If, not when: An earthquake is destined to destroy the Pacific Northwest.

When the Cascadia fault line ruptures, it could be North America’s worst natural disaster in recorded history. Read a deep dive into the history of the region and the potential impact of the eventual seismic boom.

Rather than being triggered by a massive displacement of water from a geological event, meteotsunamis are caused by rapid changes in air pressure from fast-moving weather systems.

Wind helps trees develop resistance to collapse

Scientists at Biosphere 2 found that trees grew faster in the facility than those in the wild but collapsed more quickly when replanted outdoors. Researchers uncovered that trees build resistance when pushed and pulled due to wind stress, strengthening their foundational root systems.

The White House's modern East Wing—demolished in 2025—was built above a secure underground bunker

Completed in 1942, the East Wing provided offices and a public entrance but primarily disguised the construction of the Presidential Emergency Operations Center beneath it—a secure command bunker built during World War II after the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Explore how global teams coordinated by the UN's International Search and Rescue Advisory Group find and rescue survivors of large-scale earthquakes, from preliminary surveys to recovering bodies.

Often-maligned Brutalist architecture inspired a design renaissance

Despite petitions worldwide to demolish some of its more notorious examples, Brutalism was a transformative moment in architecture. The reinforced concrete style arguably reduced costs, enabled new designs, and reduced the need for maintenance.

View the 10 largest earthquakes ever recorded as of 2025, led by a 1960 magnitude 9.5 earthquake in Chile, which left about 2 million people unhoused.

Explore the decommissioning work at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station

This virtual tour explores the nuclear disaster site, which resulted from a magnitude 9.1 earthquake and tsunami on March 11, 2011, and the various processes underway to remove debris, fuel, and contaminated water.

Reported earthquake magnitudes often change because initial values are based on limited information, whereas revised magnitudes account for factors such as fault size, rupture duration, and seismic wave behavior.

After a landslide, repeat activity may follow the appearance of cracks, springs of water, or dirt, sand, and rocks tumbling down from scars—exposed portions of Earth where the initial landslide began.