The tallest building in Taiwan, half a kilometer high, survived the big quake just fine - in part thanks to a 'tuned mass damper'.
It's a 660-tonne steel sphere hanging from wires: a pendulum designed to reduce quake vibrations by 40%. It's yellow and it hangs from the 92nd to the 87th floors, visible from inside the building. On 8 August 2015, strong winds from Typhoon Soudelor made it swing by 100 centimeters. I don't know how much it swayed during the quake.
It's inspired a popular mascot in Taiwan, called Damper Baby. I'll show you the actual steel sphere, and then Damper Baby.
