For thousands of years, earthquakes have been a massive problem for humankind. We’ve built some amazing things throughout history, but we never had any guarantees they would last forever due to Earth’s “temper tantrums.”
Earthquakes are good only when used as metaphors. If we take iGaming, for example, 7Slots Casino made seismic shocks within the industry upon its appearance. The result was setting the standard for the rest of the competitors and providing players with something unique and fun.
Unfortunately, the results of actual earthquakes are the opposite of fun, so humanity has invested many resources into developing technical solutions for timing prediction and damage prevention.
Let’s dive in and see some of the most advanced technology we use today to defend ourselves when nature gets angry.
Shock Absorbers
Have they ever heard of shock absorbers in cars? They help control bouncing. A similar idea is used in buildings to make them safer during earthquakes. Engineers use what they call dampers, which work like shock absorbers. These dampers are placed in buildings at different levels.
They have a piston inside filled with oil. When an earthquake happens, the building moves side to side. The piston in each damper pushes against the oil, turning the earthquake’s energy into heat.
The Levitating Foundation
Base isolation is a method engineers and earthquake experts use to protect buildings during quakes. Instead of directly connecting the building to its foundation, they separate them. They do this by using special bearings made of lead and rubber.
These bearings sit between the building and its foundation. The foundation can move without shaking the building above when an earthquake happens.
In Japan, engineers have gone further, developing a system where buildings float on a cushion of air. Sensors in the building detect earthquake movements, and then these sensors talk to an air compressor.
When an earthquake is detected, the compressor pushes air under the building, lifting it about an inch off the ground. This way, the building is protected from the earthquake’s forces. Once the shaking stops, the compressor stops, and the building settles back onto its foundation.
Rocking Core Wall
EEngineers often use a core-wall design in tall buildings to make tall buildings safer during earthquakes without breaking the bank.
This design involves a solid concrete core that runs through the center of the building, around the elevators. This core can be significant for tall buildings – at least 30 feet in each direction and 18 to 30 inches thick.
But there’s a catch: while core wall construction helps in earthquakes, it’s imperfect. Sometimes, the building can still get damaged. One way to improve it is by using base isolation – letting the building float on special bearings. But even that doesn’t solve everything.
A better idea is to combine a rocking core wall with base isolation. This means the bottom of the core wall can move during an earthquake, so it doesn’t get permanently damaged. Engineers strengthen the lower floors with steel and use a technique called post-tensioning.
This involves threading steel through the core wall and tightening it like a rubber band using hydraulic jacks. It helps make the core wall stronger.
Seismic Invisibility Cloak
When we talk about waves, we often think of water or sound. However, earthquakes also create waves, which geologists classify as body and surface waves.
The body waves move fast through the Earth, while the surface waves, like Rayleigh waves, move slower and shake the ground up and down, causing much damage during earthquakes.
Some scientists had an excellent idea: what if we could stop or redirect these seismic waves? They call it the “seismic invisibility cloak.” The idea is to make buildings invisible to these surface waves.
Engineers plan to bury 100 plastic rings under a building’s foundation so that they enter these rings and get trapped when seismic waves come. Inside the “cloak,” the waves can’t harm the building. Instead, they go around it and continue on their way.
A French team tested this idea in 2013, proving useful for protected buildings. However, the fact that the cloak had covered them made the damage to the surrounding area much greater.
That’s why it is not among the most commonly used means of earthquake protection and why experts are looking for alternatives.
Final Thoughts
Earthquakes are powerful natural events that should never be underestimated. The damage they can do to buildings and infrastructure is sometimes estimated in billions of dollars, and when human lives are lost, there’s no price tag for such tragedies.
Even though in modern times, we’re blessed to be equipped with means that help us reduce their effects and recover much faster than our ancestors.
As we progress into the future, there’s no way we won’t continue working on new and more sophisticated technology, hoping that one day we’ll have a 100% effective solution for this dangerous natural phenomenon.