Taiwan Skyscraper Causing Quakes?

[northzax]

TAIPEI, Taiwan -- The weight of the world's tallest skyscraper -- specially built to withstand Taiwan's frequent earthquakes -- could be causing a rise in the number of tremors beneath it, a professor from the island wrote in a scientific journal.

Lin Cheng-horng, an earthquake specialist at the National Taiwan Normal University in the capital, Taipei, says the 1,679-foot Taipei 101 building -- named for the number of floors -- might rest on an earthquake fault line.

In the scientific journal Geophysical Research Letters, Lin wrote that the pressure of the building's 700,000 tons on the ground may be leading to increased seismic activity...

Read on at Wired

[Mr_Spock]

1. Fascinating!

I wonder if they can prove the effect one way or another?

[bammertheblue]

2. That's so interesting!

I never would have thought that humans could influence the earth- the actual EARTH itself- in such an immediate way. I always thought it would wait a couple of thousand years and then bite us in the ass.
Edited to say: that is, of course, if it is true, which seems unsure.

[SheilaT]

3. I'm beginning to wonder about

that Wired article. This has been posted at least once before here, and it's been pointed out that the idea of a large skyscraper causing increased seismic activities is pretty lame, especially when you think about the incredible amount of energy actually involved in even a small earthquake.

So I decided to google "Geophysical Research Letters" and "Lin Cheng-horng" and there is such a journal and the named earthquake expert has written or co-written several things for it. But I don't find any mention of skyscrapers causing earthquakes. In fact, here's a link to his most recent article, which is all about earthquakes in Taiwan. http://www.earth.sinica.edu.tw/~lin/lin_c.files/2004GL019833.pdf But nothing there about skyscrapers.

Wonder where Wired came up with their information?

[CHIMO]

4. Skyscraper that may cause earthquakes

Taipei 101 is a building with a lot to boast about. Standing 508 metres (1,667ft) high, it is the world's tallest. And at 700,000 tonnes, it must be among the heaviest.

But the sheer size of the Taiwan skyscraper has raised unexpected concerns that may have far-reaching implications for the construction of other buildings and man-made megastructures. Taipei 101 is thought to have triggered two recent earthquakes because of the stress that it exerts on the ground beneath it.

According to the geologist Cheng Horng Lin, from the National Taiwan Normal University, the stress from the skyscraper may have reopened an ancient earthquake fault. If he is right, then it raises concerns about proposals such as Sky City 1000 in Japan, the vertical city that has been proposed to solve Tokyo's housing problems. And it is not just skyscrapers that are a problem. Dams and underground waste deposits may also cause rumblings if they become too large.

Compared with dams and underground waste deposits, skyscrapers such as Taipei 101 are mere pinpricks on the Earth's surface. "It is a point load which is probably going to be insignificant at depth," says Dr Seeber.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/story/0,3605,1655977,00.html

Interesting questions arise from this.

Melting of glaciers and rising sea level. Center of gravity.

[Deja Q]

5. !

:rofl: Humanity is such a hoot in this informed day and age...

Never fuck with nature. Nature will fuck back and it won't be pretty.

Stop the breeding, everybody. And that's no joke.

[Canuckistanian]

6. Bullshit. 700,000 tonnes is nothing

When will we realize that we are tiny ants when it comes to seismic and meteorolological disasters?

[salvorhardin]

7. Exactly

Canada uses about 700,000 tonnes about tissue products each year alone.
http://www.greenpeace.ca/e/campaign/boreal/tissue.php

[Art_from_Ark]

8. You are talking apples and orangutans here

700,000 tonnes of quickly decomposing tissues consumed over the course of a year, spread out across a mostly geologically stable territory that covers more than 4 million square miles can hardly be compared to 700,000 tonnes of weight being constantly applied to a very concentrated point source in a notoriously active fault zone.

[salvorhardin]

11. Decomposition means nothing

Just because the tissue decomposes doesn't mean its mass disappears.

The point being here, that 700,000 tonnes is but a drop in the bucket. Think of the sheer weight of stuff that any large city imports every year, of all the buildings, all the cars and trucks and busses... How much greater than 700,000 tonnes would that be? Surely, we'd have seen a whole slew of unnatural earthquakes by now.

Maybe, just maybe, if you were to drop that from a significant height you might cause an earthquake but one building ajust standing still in one spot? I'd say highly unlikely.

700,000 tonnes is not that heavy for a tall building either. The Empire State Building weighs almost half that at about 331,000 tonnes (365,000 tons).

[Art_from_Ark]

12. Once again, we are talking about dispersion of weight

over the course of a year over a vast, geologically stable area, versus an intensive concentraction of weight constantly applied to a very small area where no such concentration existed before, in an already very active seismic zone.

Apples and orangutans.

[Spinzonner]

9. Earthshaking news

[Dead_Parrot]

10. Unlikley...

The force needed to move a tectonic plate is well beyond anything we're likely to do. Look at Tokyo: The most populous city on the planet sits in an earthquake zone, with about 2 million tonnes of commuter moving twice a day, but they've never blamed them for the ground moving.

I'd place good money on this just being a coincidence.

(copied from here btw)

[emad]

13. Skyscraper that may cause earthquakes

· World's tallest building may have reopened fault
· Doubts cast on plans for Sky City in Japan

Kate Ravilious
Friday December 2, 2005
The Guardian



Taipei 101 is a building with a lot to boast about. Standing 508 metres (1,667ft) high, it is the world's tallest. And at 700,000 tonnes, it must be among the heaviest.

But the sheer size of the Taiwan skyscraper has raised unexpected concerns that may have far-reaching implications for the construction of other buildings and man-made megastructures. Taipei 101 is thought to have triggered two recent earthquakes because of the stress that it exerts on the ground beneath it.

According to the geologist Cheng Horng Lin, from the National Taiwan Normal University, the stress from the skyscraper may have reopened an ancient earthquake fault. If he is right, then it raises concerns about proposals such as Sky City 1000 in Japan, the vertical city that has been proposed to solve Tokyo's housing problems. And it is not just skyscrapers that are a problem. Dams and underground waste deposits may also cause rumblings if they become too large.

Before the construction of Taipei 101, the Taipei basin was a very stable area with no active earthquake faults at the surface. Its earthquake activity was similar to parts of the UK, with micro-earthquakes (less than magnitude 2) happening about once a year.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/story/0,3605,1655977,00.html?gusrc=rss

[DS1]

14. Oh come on, it's only 1.4 Billion pounds

:eyes:

[MemphisTiger]

15. When you consider how far down EQ actually start

I have a hard time buying this guys argument.