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World's Tallest Building Causing Earthquakes?

IZ Reloaded writes "A geologist thinks that the increase in the number of earthquakes in Taiwan is due to Taipei 101, the world's tallest building. CNN reports: 'Lin said Taipei 101 weighed 700,000 tons and estimated stress from vertical loading on its foundation at 4.7 bars, of which some would be transferred to the earth's upper crust due to extremely soft sedimentary rocks beneath the Taipei basin. If a fault is about to crack, then a little pressure can trigger an earthquake. It's like the last straw that breaks the camel's back.'" More from The Guardian.

39 of 344 comments (clear)

  1. Nature will work it out by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Big building causes earthquake, earthquake destroys big building.

    1. Re:Nature will work it out by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      Anytime we think that we can fly, we're proven wrong. We spend billions of dollars studying wax-and-feather wings, but one small leap off of a barn roof is all it takes to break a neck. Gravity has torn apart entire families.

      The notion that a rocket can actually make it to the moon is totally preposterous. This sounds more like someone trying to justify a grant or raise money than any serious science.

    2. Re:Nature will work it out by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      You use lesbians for sea defence?

    3. Re:Nature will work it out by Foobar+of+Borg · · Score: 2, Funny

      No, we're not supposed to say "dike". We're not even supposed to say "lesbian". It's "women in comfortable shoes".

    4. Re:Nature will work it out by zCyl · · Score: 3, Funny

      So we should build really heavy sky-scraper vehicles, and drive them all around the major fault lines to regularly massage the Earth? :)

  2. Not the largest by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Funny

    This building is small, like asian penises.

  3. Re:Tallest != Largest by jcr · · Score: 3, Funny

    Or burn down, fall over, and sink! ;-)

    -jcr

    --
    The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
  4. Conspiracy theory by mister_llah · · Score: 4, Funny

    Well, the tower isn't what does it, it is the Earthquake Machine stored in the basement (owned by the United States, of course) that is really behind it.

    ===

    I think my statement is only slightly more farfetched.

    --
    MoM++ - A Classic Expanded - [Master of Magic 1.5]
    http://mompp.sourceforge.net/
  5. So it's true then... by the_skywise · · Score: 5, Funny

    If you put enough elephants in one place, you can shift the rotation of the planet!

    (This looks like a job for Mythbusters!)

    1. Re:So it's true then... by Quiet_Desperation · · Score: 4, Funny
      If you put enough elephants in one place, you can shift the rotation of the planet!

      Or at least the giant turtle they are standing on.

  6. Biggest problem by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    The biggest problem now is finding a way to blame this on the United States.

  7. Re:All together now... by Galvatron · · Score: 5, Funny

    What, are you saying that the construction of the Taipei 101 and an increase in earthquake activity are both caused by a third, unknown factor?

    --
    "The question of whether a computer can think is no more interesting than that of whether a submarine can swim" -EWD
  8. Re:All together now... by Council · · Score: 4, Funny

    Kind sirs,
    Please in your good graces mod parent funny.
    Kindest regards,
    some random dude who talks like a wanker.

    Perhaps the factor in question is the global decrease in number of pirates?

    --
    xkcd.com - a webcomic of mathematics, love, and language.
  9. Lawsuit by ZachPruckowski · · Score: 4, Funny

    1) Read story about world's tallest building.
    2) Move to Earthquake prone area
    3) Put fragile stuff up high
    4) File lawsuit
    5) ?????
    6) Profit!!!!!

  10. It's like the last straw... by maxphunk · · Score: 2, Funny

    ...that breaks the camel's back; and thats one hell of a straw!

    --

    "The chief enemy of creativity is 'good taste'" -Pablo Picasso
  11. Re:All together now... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    No, no. He's saying that the increase in earthquake activity is causing the construction of the Taipei 101. We like to thumb our nose at God here in Taiwan. Or China, which tends to be about as dangerous.

    Chen Shui-bian

  12. Ask Slashdot by karvind · · Score: 5, Funny

    Phew for a moment I thought it was posted under Ask Slashdot ... *wipes sweat*

  13. hmm by g0dsp33d · · Score: 2, Funny

    There has to be a good Godzilla joke in here somewhere...


    Why is this on slashdot though?

    --
    lol: You see no door there!
  14. Evil Genius at work by Dekar · · Score: 1, Funny
    I think that the cause of these earthquakes is pretty obvious. This building is really the secret hideout of yet another Evil Genius, and his World Domination Project(tm) obviously involves the use of tremors and/or digging to the core of the planet.

    Whichever it is, they need some kind of cover now. Kudos for getting a bunch of smart so-called scientists together to think of a possible explanation to cover up these operations. 700,000 tons causing an earthquake... how did they come up with that one? They really are geniuses.

    If only they decided to use reliable means of disposal instead of frickin' sharks with lasers...

  15. Re:All together now... by hdparm · · Score: 1, Funny
    We like to thumb our nose at God here in Taiwan. Or China, which tends to be about as dangerous.

    Do you mean ...at China here in Taiwan or ...at God here in China?

  16. Re:All together now... by David+Hume · · Score: 2, Funny
    What, are you saying that the construction of the Taipei 101 and an increase in earthquake activity are both caused by a third, unknown factor?
    No, no. He's saying that the increase in earthquake activity is causing the construction of the Taipei 101.
    Not quite. He is saying that earthquakes in the present caused the contruction of Taipei 101 in the past.

    Obviously, even if we had the ability, we shouldn't do anything to stop the earthquakes. If we stopped the earthquakes, Taipei 101 would vanish, or more likely deconstruct piece by piece.
  17. Re:CN tower by Chairboy · · Score: 4, Funny

    > The CN Tower is 553 meters. Taipei 101 is a feeble 509 meters.
    Sure, but that's like what, 474 meters US?

  18. Re:Tallest != Largest by grahams · · Score: 2, Funny
    Think of how a 50kg woman in stilletto heels leaves dents in wood floors where a 90kg man in sneakers doesn't.
    What are these 'kg' you speak of?
  19. Re:All together now... by JPriest · · Score: 5, Funny
    But it almost always warrants looking into.

    Someone gets it! I have been saying this for a long time as I have been trying to get a research grant to investigate the relationship between a decrease in the number of pirates and an increase in average global temperatures (see graph).

    --
    Saying Java is nice because it works on all OS's is like saying that anal sex is nice because it works on all genders.
  20. Re:CN tower by Lehk228 · · Score: 3, Funny

    CN tower only a few stories tall, not even a tower really they just put a little round building on a big stick.

    --
    Snowden and Manning are heroes.
  21. Re:Tallest != Largest by Lemmy+Caution · · Score: 2, Funny

    I see you've been to Maryland.

  22. Re:All together now... by zippthorne · · Score: 2, Funny

    Perhaps, but that graph is highly inaccurate as to the number of pirates.

    --
    Can you be Even More Awesome?!
  23. Re:Tallest != Largest by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    Think of how a 50kg woman in stilletto heels leaves dents in wood floors where a 90kg man in sneakers doesn't.

    A 50kg woman in stiletto heels? Your ideas intrigue me, and I would like to subscribe to your newsletter.

  24. They Should Have Listened to Me... by Guncrazy · · Score: 5, Funny

    ...I told them that building had bad Feng Shui.

  25. Breaking news - butterfly wings flapping cause by wadiwood · · Score: 4, Funny

    Breaking News

    Flapping butterfly wings cause Hurricane.

    http://www.pha.jhu.edu/~ldb/seminar/butterfly.html

    Bush launches mass pesticide attack, in retalliation for Hurricane Katrina.

    --

    -- it must be true, it's on the internet.
  26. Re: Condemning History by some+guy+I+know · · Score: 4, Funny
    What is the quote about not knowing history and being doomed to repeat it?
    Those who sacrifice security to condemn liberty deserve to repeat history or something. - Benjamin Santayana
    --
    Those who sacrifice security to condemn liberty deserve to repeat history or something. - Benjamin Santayana
  27. Re:All together now... by ObiWanKenblowme · · Score: 5, Funny

    You're right - this link shows there were over 17 active pirates in 2005 alone, and that's not including other piracy-related groups such as buccaneers or raiders.

    --
    Obvious exits are NORTH, SOUTH, and DENNIS.
  28. Re:Tallest != Largest by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    I've seen a 90kg man in stiletto heels. Is that close enough?

  29. Naming regrets by DavidV · · Score: 3, Funny

    If it turns out to be true they may regret naming it like it was designed by first year engineering students "101"

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    !sig
  30. Re:All together now... by Woldry · · Score: 3, Funny

    You mean they're wearing only partial pirate regalia?

    --
    How can a post be modded "overrated" or "underrated" when it hasn't been rated yet?
  31. Re:Tallest != Largest by Woldry · · Score: 4, Funny

    I can beat that. I've been a 90kg man in stiletto heels.

    --
    How can a post be modded "overrated" or "underrated" when it hasn't been rated yet?
  32. 4.7 Bars by JonathanR · · Score: 2, Funny

    What, less than 5 bars in a multistory building? Where does one go for a quite ale or two without all the crowds?

  33. In Soviet Russia... by darkmeridian · · Score: 3, Funny

    ...earthquake causes building.

    --
    A NYC lawyer blogs. http://www.chuangblog.com/
  34. Re:All together now... by thirdrock · · Score: 2, Funny

    But they're not wearing full pirate regalia!

    Ahhhh! Then they are illegal combatants, and are not afforded the rights of the sea!

    So instead of keeling them or making them walk the plank, we can lock them up indefinitely with objective of obtaining Pirate intelligence for the War On Piracy.

    --
    >>
    I am the director, and this is my movie ...