Despite the 7.4 magnitude earthquakes that hit Taiwan early Wednesday, the Taipei 101 skyscraper in the center of the country’s capital was left intact, just as its construction predicted.

The 509-meter-tall building has a special structure inside that reduces its sway by 40 percent during earthquakes, but on days with strong winds.

Watch the video to see how the skyscraper behaved during the earthquake of April 3, 2024:

The structure is a 660-ton steel sphere suspended inside the building, on the 92nd floor, like a pendulum.

Every time the building moves in one direction, the steel sphere moves in the opposite direction, thus maintaining the overall balance of the building, reports the Daily Mail. In this way, the skyscraper sways, but it cannot come down.

In the video below you can see how the sphere behaved during the 6.8 magnitude earthquake in 2022.

This is a “passive damping system,” meaning it works without any external force or control, just gravity and the movement of the building.

Modern skyscrapers are built to be resilient, especially those in earthquake-prone zones such as Taiwan, Professor Anthony Darby of Bath University explains to the Daily Mail.

The materials they are made of are elastic, meaning they stretch or contract in response to changing loads on them.

The amount of strain in a single element, such as a beam, is very small, but when added up for the whole tall building, they can lead to significant lateral movements. These movements are not dangerous to the structure itself but, if excessive, can cause discomfort to the occupants.

See Also:

The Guardian: Endangered Greek dialect is “living bridge” to ancient world, researchers say

Construction of the skyscraper began in 1999 and was completed before New Year’s Eve 2004, when it opened to the public.

The design of the building resembles a bamboo shoot that rises upwards in eight sections.

On each floor, steel support beams were installed, starting at the core of the building and ending at the outer columns to increase the rigidity of the tower.

Although in other buildings the earthquake mechanisms are unseen, in “Taipei 101” they are a tourist attraction for visitors from the 88th to the 92nd floor.