Shaking of Atwood Building, Mw 7.0 November 30, 2018, Anchorage quake

This video presents a visualization of how the Atwood Building in Anchorage, Alaska, shook during the Mw 7.0 November 30, 2018, Anchorage, Alaska, earthquake. The building was instrumented by the U.S. Geological Survey to obtain data to study its behavior and performance during strong shaking. Such data are useful in making decisions about improving the performance of the building.

Note that relative to the height of the building, the motions are magnified by a factor of 100 to show how the building deforms. Translational (back-and-forth) motion (more dominant in the East-designated direction) and limited torsional (twisting) motions are both observed, as well as limited beating effects (alternating cycles of generally increasing and decreasing levels of motion that occur when the structural damping of a building is low and when frequencies of translational and torsional motions are close).

An earlier video of the Atwood building visualizing shaking during the Mw7.1 January 24, 2016, Iniskin, Alaska, earthquake is available.