This video taken on a security camera during the 2011 Great Tohoku Earthquake shows how earthquake resistant construction and seismic base isolators can pay off in a country vulnerable to earthquakes such as Japan. The server room, located in Sendai, has a seismic isolation floor installed that prevents anything from getting damaged, even during a massive 9.0 earthquake. While there is obviously a lot of shaking going on, the part of the room with isolation flooring installed (under the servers) is able to keep steady and resist damage--the video even explains that walking on this part of the floor during the quake was not difficult.

There are 15,894 confirmed deaths from the 2011 Great Tohoku Earthquake, but a majority of the fatalities and structural damage are attributed to the following tsunami. Railway systems that detect seismic activity prior to larger waves allowed for trains to stop before derailing, and seismic isolation technology as seen in the video above proved valuable to preventing initial structural damage.


By - grape Japan editorial staff.