Taipei 101 damper sways dramatically during 6.8 earthquake

Taipei 101's tuned mass damper swayed during a magnitude 6.8 earthquake that struck the country on Sept. 18. (Facebook, 爆料公社 video)

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[heene]

Like that they made this a feature of the building instead of hiding it.

[EATSLEEPDRIVE]

I love how this camera holder is more steady during a 6.8 quake than 75% of the videos on YouTube

[christopherpardell]

I would point out that it never ‘sleeps’. The tuned mass damper is not just there for earthquakes. Its primary job is to dampen the swaying in tall buildings that is induced by winds. In Taipei, that is particularly needed because of Typhoons.
The force of wind on an ordinary blustery day on skyscrapers is significantly greater than you might imagine.

[themangodess]

Imagine being safe during a 6.8 earthquake inside a handsome building just watching the damper swing without much fear. Good engineering for sure

[anb]

That TMD is part of the reason that building wasn’t reduced to a pile of rubble. Now to comprehend the sheer amount of force it took to make that giant thing sway around like that!

[queenlip]

Nothing dramatic about the gentle swaying. What's dramatic is the camera not shaking! Marvelous engineering!

[mycroft]

I love that Taipei 101 made their TMD a tourist attraction. It's pretty damn cool. Inertia just doing its thing.

[Muonium]

Perhaps more than any other structural invention, the tuned mass damper epitomizes parsimonious and elegant engineering design. Consuming no power at all, it simply sits there, passive and stationary for years on end, until needed, then dutifully springs into action at a moment's notice to do its job, then back to sleep for another untold age.
EDIT 04/24: This video has obviously been linked to by some large outside site and so the new comments and replies have predictably become thoroughly idiotic and very low IQ overnight.

[battery_wattage]

Imagine engineering so good that people watch a ball for leisure during an earthquake.

[FrontSideBus]

Isn't it actually the building that is moving and the mass damper is trying to remain in place?

[soundseeker]

Now thats architecture done right! Both functional and beautiful. They could have made it a plain lump of weights and hidden it in a closed room somewhere.
But no, they found a way to make it into something attractive and interesting whilst still performing a critical role in the structural safety of the building. Classy! 👌

[Ezio-Auditore]

It would be so crazy to be there and think "That giant ball gently swinging is what prevents us all from dying horribly"

[ashikfromnepal]

When I visited Taiwan in 2013, I visited Taipei 101. I saw this ball too. I thought it was only for a show. Only realized now that it is a scientific tool use for dampening.

[Giitzerland]

Doing what it's made to do. It's still unnerving to see the center, or plumb line of the building sway so much.

[h.a.]

Taipei 101 is the coolest skyscraper out there. The look and design is just really impressive, but it's also great to have a safety feature like this giant damper swing gently to counteract an earthquake, that's strong enough to level entire cities.

[paulb]

What may have been missed here, the damper is mostly stationary. The top of the building is moving around it and the damper is slowing/minimizing that movement so things don't shake apart.

[daveys]

I imagine that very few people have seen the ball moving as much as it was there. I went up Taipei 101 years ago and it’s a great thing to look at, but I’m glad that an earthquake didn’t kick off while I was up there.

[am]

I love that little pleasant "chime" sound telling you there's an earthquake... Almost like the one from Japan, except not quite as ear-pearcing!

[CV]

>rest of the world: OMG we're trapped in a building during a 6.8 earthquake
>taiwanese: cool we gotta see the damper moving, let's film it in awe.

[BPJJohn]

That Building's got Balls of Steel.