The Great Pyramid survived 4,600 years. A strange feature may help explain why. Science alert

Somehow, while the rest of the ancient Egyptian world collapsed around it, the Great Pyramid of Khufu at Giza remains standing, even after 4,600 years.

Even through major earthquakes and the gradual loss of its brilliant white casing stones, the main structure of the pyramid still stands, its granite and limestone blocks still firmly in place, as if the massive edifice had just emerged from the throes of construction rather than slowly deteriorating.

Archaeologists are still trying to uncover the full range of engineering ingenuity that led to the Great Pyramid becoming the only surviving member of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

The new revelation of the pyramid’s design could add another feather to Egyptian engineering caps.

According to new research, several properties of a structure could make it surprisingly earthquake-resistant — whether the builders wanted it or not. Fortification features include empty “relief chambers” directly above the burial chamber of Pharaoh Khufu.

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Building the Great Pyramid was an enormous undertaking: it was built from approximately 2.3 million stone blocks, weighing a total of about 6 million metric tons, some of which were transported hundreds of miles to reach the construction site.

These blocks were then carefully placed and bolted together to build a mostly solid structure about 147 meters (482 ft) high, with a few hollow chambers hidden inside.

A diagram of the layout of the Great Pyramid. (Al-Jabri et al., Science Rep, 2026)

As a mostly solid structure, the pyramid is very strong, with its weight concentrated towards the ground and distributed across the base. However, this alone will not make it safe from earthquake damage or the ravages of time.

Many pyramids have collapsed into at least partial ruin. The outer structure of the Meidum Pyramid, for example, collapsed significantly in antiquity. The pyramids of Userkaf, Sahure, and Unas resemble jagged piles of rubble.

There is also evidence in Mesoamerica that pyramids – made of stone material subject to shear stresses caused by earthquakes – could break due to the shaking of the ground beneath them.

Egypt is not particularly prone to earthquakes, but at least two large earthquakes have been recorded within an 80 km (50 mi) radius of the Great Pyramid.

Measurements are collected from inside the pyramid. (Al-Jabri et al., Science Rep, 2026)

In 1847, a 6.8 magnitude earthquake shook the area. In 1992, a 5.8 magnitude earthquake was recorded, shaking several stones falling from the top of the Giza Pyramid.

Since it is still standing and one of the oldest pyramids, the Great Pyramid has made researchers wonder: Why did this massive ancient structure survive where others fell?

To investigate this, a team led by seismologist Assem Salama of the National Institute for Astronomy and Geophysics Research in Egypt placed vibration sensors in and around the pyramid to determine how the pyramid responded to movements in the world around it.

They placed 37 portable accelerometers in various places: in the King’s Chamber and Queen’s Chamber, in decompression chambers stacked vertically directly above the King’s Chamber, in corridors and tunnels, on the outer stones, and on the ground around the pyramid.

A researcher records field measurements in the corridor leading to the entrance of Caliph al-Ma’mun. (Asim Salama and others)

These sensors measure small ambient vibrations from sources that are already everywhere in the region — from distant traffic, winds, ocean wave energy traveling through the Earth, and imperceptible tremors constantly running through the crust.

In the ground surrounding the pyramid, these sources combined to create a constant background frequency of about 0.6 hertz (Hz).

However, at most locations within the pyramid, the frequency was around 2.0 to 2.6 Hz.

A mismatch between the frequency of the ground’s vibrations and the frequency of the pyramid itself could be part of the reason why earthquakes cause so little damage.

One of the corridors inside the Great Pyramid. (al_la/Creatas Video+/Getty Images Plus)

Because they do not vibrate at the same frequency, seismic energy may be transmitted less efficiently between the ground and the structure, which helps prevent the type of resonance amplification that can severely damage buildings.

But, while the vibration was mostly consistent throughout the pyramid, with increasing amplification with height, there was one notable exception: the vent chambers.

It is usually interpreted as a way to reduce the burden on the king’s chamber. In these chambers, the vibration amplification decreased sharply, indicating that these chambers also redistribute the stress and interrupt the vibration.

Although their purpose may have been load-bearing, the findings suggest that these voids may also have inadvertently helped the pyramid withstand earthquakes.

The pyramid – short, heavy, and solid – behaves very differently from the way buildings are designed to withstand earthquakes today; Strategies that mostly revolve around flexibility.

RELATED: Mysterious structure found buried beneath ancient Egyptian city

The researchers are careful to note that any suggestion that earthquake resistance was an intended part of the pyramid’s design is pure speculation at this stage, but they appear keen to find evidence that this is the case.

“These results provide compelling quantitative evidence that ancient Egyptian architects had a deep geotechnical understanding and optimized structure design and site characterization to ensure millennium-scale stability against seismic hazards,” the team wrote in their paper.

In future work, the team plans to repeat some of the measurements at key sites that “gave few anomalies,” confident that their findings “will confirm the Pyramid of Khufu as an architectural marvel and a testament to ancient seismic engineering principles relevant to modern geological heritage conservation.”

The results have been published in scientific reports.

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