Recently I came across an old article that Taipei 101 might be causing an increase in seismic activity. The article is as follows:
TAIPEI, Taiwan - The weight of the world's tallest skyscraper -- specially built to withstand Taiwan's frequent earthquakes -- could be causing a rise in the number of tremors beneath it, a professor from the island wrote in a scientific journal.
Lin Cheng-horng, an earthquake specialist at the National Taiwan Normal University in the capital, Taipei, says the 1,679-foot Taipei 101 building -- named for the number of floors -- might rest on an earthquake fault line.
In the scientific journal Geophysical Research Letters, Lin wrote that the pressure of the building's 700,000 tons on the ground may be leading to increased seismic activity.
The tremors "could be a direct result of the loading of the mega-structure," said an abstract of Lin's article, published on the American Geophysical Union's Web site.
However, Taiwan's Central Weather Bureau said on Friday that the one year since the building's completion was too short a time in which to evaluate its effect on tremors.
Taipei 101, which looks like a giant steel-and-glass bamboo shoot, is equipped with a 733-ton ball suspended near the top that moves to counter the force of earthquakes or strong winds.
Theoratically, it is a plausible scenario. Think of the earth crust as a jelly surface. You place pressure at one point, the rest of the surface will 'shake' as displacement of content occurs. Similarly, if a mega structure gets demolished, the lifting of pressure from the surface will allow the earth crust to 'breathe', akin to a spring getting tension released. The result of the off loading might just cause something to go.
This brings something to thought. While Singapore does not have any mega structure, it does have plenty of highrise buildings which places considerable weight on this tiny little island. Not to be said, some are built on reclaimed land.
While Singapore does not lie on any fault lines, the impact of seismic activities has been felt increasingly. It will not be surprising should one day the continental plates shift such that Singapore lands right on top of a fault line. Chances of that happening is as strong as me winning Toto, but not to say it is impossible.
Now, I'm not sure if everybody will start avoiding Taipei 101, but there is definitely no need to flee Singapore for some far flung mountain in Central Europe for I have the greatest proposal to save Singapore from such fate.
My proposal, to bubble up Singapore and build a hovering city (like the cartoon Jetson). Once we have Singapore enclosed in a bubble, the land should be built with anti gravitational pads on it rather than buildings. I would assume AG pads are lighter than buildings. Once done, pre-fabricated buildings will then be lifted by these AG pads (think hot air balloon in air but tethered to ground).
Brillant, aren't it? In such way, we will not be placing too much pressure on the ground which might cause seismic activities and there definitely will not be any cases of suicide jumping or maids falling while hanging out clothings. No one needs to worry about COE prices as well, since practically everyone can be Superman and WonderWoman. Flying that is, not wearing underwear outside.
There is of course still the possibilty an earthquake will occur and disrupt the power to the AG pads. But hey, at least you will not be alone in falling.
(Simplistic thinking at it's best)