10-story wood building passes earthquake test

Simulations of two devastating earthquakes don’t seem to damage high rise timber buildings on UC San Diego shake table. The building swayed as it would have in the 1999 Jiji earthquake in Taiwan. That magnitude 7.7 quake killed more than 2,000 people. Buildings made of steel and concrete were destroyed. But the wooden high rise, built recently on UCSD’s shake table, showed no visible damage.