10-Story Mass Timber Building Passes High-Magnitude Earthquake Test

A 10-story mass timber building successfully withstood a high-magnitude earthquake simulation at the University of California San Diego on Tuesday, according to a report by ABC News (5-10-23). The structure, “Tallwood,” is the world’s tallest full-scale building to be tested on an earthquake simulator.

The endeavor was six years in the making, and on Tuesday, the researchers simulated two of the largest earthquakes in recent decades—the 6.7 magnitude earthquake that struck California in 1994 and the 7.7 Chi-Chi earthquake that struck Taiwan in 1999 and killed more than 2,400 people.

Shiling Pei, an associate professor at the Colorado School of Mines, told ABC News that Tallwood “danced”—a sign the construction was a success. “The building moved around just like a tree in a windstorm.”