How a steel ball “damper” protected Taipei 101 from the Taiwan earthquake

When a 7.4-magnitude earthquake struck Taiwan on Wednesday, people inside the island's tallest skyscraper, Taipei 101, were protected by a large yellow pendulum in the center of the building that helped absorb the shock.

The 730-ton steel ball, known as the “tuned mass damper,” was suspended between several floors at the top of the building, where the public could view it. The observatory is a popular tourist attraction in the capital.

The ball moves back and forth during earthquakes or typhoons that regularly hit the island, absorbing the force of any “violent swaying,” according to the Taipei 101 website. The damper engineers say it could limit the building's movement by up to 40 percent, reducing the nausea felt by its occupants. .

CCTV footage of the Taipei skyline at the moment of the quake shows the pagoda-shaped skyscraper barely moving. The security camera installed on another building shakes violently.

Live footage and security cameras captured the moment a deadly 7.4 magnitude earthquake struck off the east coast of Taiwan on April 3. (Video: Reuters)

Taipei 101 was the tallest building in the world when it was completed in 2004 – a title it held until 2009. As the name suggests, it stands 101 stories tall, reaching 1,667 feet in height, including its tower.

It has a number of other design features that increase its ability to withstand natural disasters – including 380 piles buried deep in the ground. The innermost one was rammed about 30 meters, or nearly 100 feet, into the bedrock, which, according to Taipei 101, “is like nailing the entire building to a solid tectonic plate.” The building is powered by two substations, reducing the risk of power outages.

Taiwan, with a population of 23 million, is vulnerable to earthquakes due to its location within the world's most seismically active region, known as the “Ring of Fire.” Nine people were killed and more than 900 others were injured in Wednesday's earthquake, the strongest earthquake to hit the island in 25 years. A 7.6-magnitude earthquake struck central Taiwan in 1999, killing more than 2,400 people.

Taipei 101 is not the only skyscraper in Taiwan and around the world to use damper systems for stability – although it is a rare case where the engineering is on display.

A design flaw could have doomed a New York skyscraper in the 1970s — even though it had tuned mass dampers, an advanced design feature at the time. The building's architect had to scramble to solve the problem – pointed out by a college student – as hurricane season approached.

A video on the Taipei 101 website shows the ball gently shaking during a Category 5 typhoon in 2015, which scientists ranked as one of the strongest storms in the world that year.

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