WTC Towers Collapse Caused Small Earthquakes

when New York's World Trade Center towers collapsed, a siesmic station recorded earthquakes of magnitude 2.1 and 2.3. This analysis examines how gravity contributed to the collapse of the towers.

1 minute read

October 5, 2001, 1:00 PM PDT

By Abhijeet Chavan @http://twitter.com/legalaidtech

"Though terrorists triggered the collapse of the World Trade Center's twin towers, much of the energy -- calculated by a physicist to have been at least 2 percent that of the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima -- was supplied by nature's most ubiquitous force: gravity...When the crumbling towers thudded to the ground, they created ground tremors equal to earthquakes of magnitude 2.1 and 2.3, as measured by a seismic station in Palisades, N.Y., 21 miles north of Manhattan...More surprising, even the impacts of the airliners shook the ground, registering with the equivalent of earthquakes with magnitudes of 0.7 and 0.9."

Thanks to Abhijeet Chavan

FULL STORY: How gravity delivered the final blow

Friday, October 5, 2001 in MSNBC

Architecture New York

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching. Mary G., Urban Planner

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching.

Mary G., Urban Planner

Cover CM Credits, Earn Certificates, Push Your Career Forward

Learn More

Advertise with us

Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools

This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.