Shenzhen Skyscraper Starts Inexplicably Shaking

[whatnext]

Built with Love.

Panic as 300-metre-high skyscraper wobbles in China
SEG Plaza in Shenzhen, one of country’s tallest buildings, evacuated after it inexplicably starts shaking
Agence France-Presse
Tue 18 May 2021 18.19

One of China’s tallest skyscrapers was evacuated on Tuesday after it began to shake, sending panicked shoppers scampering to safety.

The near 300 metre (980ft) high SEG Plaza in Shenzhen, southern China, inexplicably began to shake at around 1pm, prompting an evacuation of people inside while pedestrians looked on open-mouthed.

The building was closed by 2.40pm, according to local media reports.

Completed in 2000, the tower is home to a major electronics market as well as various offices in the centre of one of China’s fastest-growing cities.

Officials are investigating what caused the tower in the city’s Futian district to wobble, according to a post on the Twitter-like Weibo platform.

“After checking and analysing the data of various earthquake monitoring stations across the city, there was no earthquake in Shenzhen today,” the statement said.....

https://www.theguardian.com/world/20...bbles-in-china

[KevinFromTexas]

Yeah, that's weird. Not sure what to make of that. You can actually see the antennas wiggle in this clip.

• Video Link

[dimondpark]

This reminds of Millennium Tower...

Originally Posted by Daily Mail

Panic in China as 980ft skyscraper mysteriously begins to shake despite NO earthquakes in the area - sending pedestrians fleeing

By Jack Newman For Mailonline
12:14 18 May 2021, updated 10:41 19 May 2021

One of China's tallest skyscrapers has been evacuated after it mysteriously started to shake, sending panicked shoppers running to safety.

The 980ft SEG Plaza started swaying at 1pm on Tuesday in the southern city of Shenzhen, causing a mass exit from the building.

No earthquakes have been recorded and authorities remain baffled as to what caused the motion.

The 79-storey building was sealed shut as of 2:40pm, according to local media reports.

Completed in 2000, the tower is home to a major electronics market as well as various offices in the downtown of one of China's fastest-growing cities.

Emergency management officials are investigating what caused the tower in Shenzhen's Futian district to wobble, according to a post on the Twitter-like Weibo platform.

One theory shared by Lu Jianxin, a chief engineer at China Construction Science and Industry Corp, posits that the rare phenomenon was caused by mechanical resonance, which occurs when a structure's natural oscillations time up with an external force.

He told the Shenzhen Special Zone Daily: 'If there was no earthquake today, it would be unusual for SEG Plaza to have such a situation.

'Judging from the currently available information, this could be an accidental frequency coincidence, that is, resonance.'

The local weather report showed a wind speed of 27mph at the time which should not have caused such an issue for the building.

'After checking and analysing the data of various earthquake monitoring stations across the city, there was no earthquake in Shenzhen today,' the statement said.

'The cause of the shaking is being verified by various departments.'

It was not immediately clear how authorities will handle a dangerous building of its scale in the heart of a city of over 12 million people...

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9591243/amp/Panic-China-980ft-skyscraper-mysteriously-shakes-causing-mass-evacuation-despite-NO-earthquake.html

[MolsonExport]

Perhaps sound/vibration resonance?
• Video Link

[Zerton]

It must have reached structural resonance due to the conditions that day. Not good. If that's true it will require some extensive modifications.

https://www.timeanddate.com/weather/...nzhen/historic

At 1pm on Tuesday in Shenzen it looks like there were sustained 20 mph winds. That still shouldn't be enough to shake a tower like this unless it was in resonance.

[Antares41]

I am guessing a perfect alignment of the 27 mph wind and some other external source(s) was enhancing the natural resonance of the building; very intriguing.

[Amanita]

Originally Posted by Zerton

It must have reached structural resonance due to the conditions that day. Not good. If that's true it will require some extensive modifications.

https://www.timeanddate.com/weather/...nzhen/historic

At 1pm on Tuesday in Shenzen it looks like there were sustained 20 mph winds. That still shouldn't be enough to shake a tower like this unless it was in resonance.

Resonance is interesting- this is a 20 year old building, has this happened to it before? If not, then what has changed in its environment between now, and the last time it experienced these same wind conditions? (Same speed, same direction, etc). If it's never had these issues before, it could mean that something new built nearby is changing the way wind affects it- wind tunnel studies show how wind will affect a proposed building, but I'm pretty sure they don't say "Well, your building will hold up fine, but it's going to alter wind behavior in the area and potentially fuck up your neighbor by giving it resonance issues it's never had before!"

[Coldrsx]

That's messed.

[muppet]

This is crazy, maybe a magnetic anomaly? Or the lifts going up and down in some kind of sync?

OP, do you mean the Millennium Bridge? The 1000+ft structure started to lurch when people perfectly fell in step with each other (due to the crowd, all going at the same pace)

• Video Link

[muppet]

OK according to residents the tower started vibrating, then swaying and went on for 50 mins. In the clip you can see how much the shaking is ongoing on the twin tips of the spire 356m /1168 ft above (roof height 292m). Don't know if it's relevant, but there's an electronics market at its base.

• Video Link

[muppet]

I think I've worked it out

• Video Link

[Amanita]

Just found this:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/20...eather-reports

[urban_encounter]

Originally Posted by muppet

I think I've worked it out

• Video Link

[Yackemflaber69]

Apparently the reason this building started shaking was because wind was causing the spire on top of the building to start shaking which caused the rest of the structure to start shaking. The spire has been removed and the building official height has been reduced to 291m.

http://www.thatsmags.com/china/post/...why-it-wobbled