Tuned Mass Damper of Taipei 101

> Safety comes at a hefty price, however, as the tower’s tuned mass damper cost $4 million to build.

A paltry 4 million for a project which cost almost 2 billion (USD); and I imagine it resulted in some measurable reductions in insurance cost.

But I wonder, what happens if the entire land that it stands on shifts and is no longer level? That pendulum won't help right a tilted building, and in fact it will move the center of gravity of the building much higher, putting more stress on the structure (when the entire structure is leaning).

Footage of it in motion during today's 6.8 magnitude earthquake: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qnSh8C40i1s

The shape/design was copied by the Westworld designers for the quantum supercomputer "Rehoboam" in season 3.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TgBtBkW0u8Y

Also - given the large motion of the damper in today's earthquake, why weren't more people freaking out? I'm also curious about how much the dampers (shock absorbers) heated up from restraining the movement of the ball.

Atlas Obscura has great stuff, but their articles are never enough. Always too short.

Damper baby best baby