About a day ago, Taiwan was hit with a magnitude 6.8 earthquake. There was a 6.2 temblor on Saturday before this, and the epicenter was in Taitung county in both cases according to the weather bureau.
The magnitude at epicenter is said to be 7.2 at a depth of 10 km, according to the US geological survey.
Some roads and railways were damaged and a building in Yuli, Hualien county collapsed following the event.
Within Taipei, the dominant Taipei 101 is the ultimate landmark in the city built with the most innovative safety features of its time. It is built with the most solid of foundations that extend deep into the bedrock, went all out with high performance steel in its construction and was designed to be structurally sturdy and flexible at the same time, borrowing from the quality of strength of the bamboo plant.
Of all the great stuff poured into making the building the marvel that it is (I've hardly scratched the surface), the tuned mass dumper stands out the most. It was seen in action during the weekend's earthquake thanks to the provision given off the indoor observation deck of the building.
By Armand du Plessis - Own work, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=10591308
The damper weighs 660 metric tons and is 5.5m in diameter. It was assembled on site by welding 41 layers of steel 'boards' measuring 12.5cm thick. It is designed to help ease discomfort of users of the building as its height makes it susceptible to oscillations from winds and tectonic plate movements.
The weight of the damper acts a s a counterweight to the building's movement, a spring acts as a store of restoration force, and a viscodamper dissipates excess energy. In Yesterday's event, the damper can be seen at work below.
(YouTube)
https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/powerful-earthquake-hits-southeast-taiwan-2022-09-18/
