Yanting’s hypothesis for this experiment is that the shear wall building will be shaken the least because it is the heaviest building model out of the three because of the amount of skewers and addition of popsicle sticks added to it. We believe that the heavier the building model is, the more secure it will be since there is more pressure pressing on the platform–making it more sturdy.

Joy disagrees and believes that the X-bracing frame would be the least shaken as many evidence says that triangles are the more sturdy shape, as for example they cannot be deformed without breaking and/or bending their sides. What’s more is there to say, the strongest shape in geometry is triangles!

EARTHQUAKES

Earthquakes are caused by slow but yet constant movement of the tectonic plates–massive irregularly shaped slabs of solid rock which lifts everything together from the mantle. These plates are so giant that slight movement could cause severe earthquakes. Earthquakes happen when there are sudden violent shaking of the ground caused by release of built-up energy in the Earth’s crust which also creates seismic waves that radiate outward, causing vibrations felt on the surface. Thus causing great destruction, for example, broken infrastructure (roads, bridges), collapsing buildings, and could potentially cause severe tsunamis.

The severity of earthquakes changes depending on the area we live in, certain areas where they are located away from tectonic plate boundaries, for example, central Canada, have a more “stable” region since it is often located in the middle of the plates. Even if an earthquake occurs in these regions, the shaking and the aftershocks are usually less intense. But places along the edges of the tectonic plates or, also known as the Pacific “Ring of Fire”, have a highly active seismic zone because the four major tectonic plates–the Pacific, Philippine Sea, Eurasian, and North American plates–constantly collide and grind against each other.

Despite the fact that this natural disaster is so dangerous, there are numerous solutions to solve this problem. Engineers design special buildings to absorb the seismic waves and to distribute the force to save human lives in case of an earthquake. Countries where severe earthquakes occur the most, like Japan and Chile, use earthquake-resistant designs to ensure that their buildings are strong and flexible enough to withstand the forces of earthquakes.

JMA Seismic Intensity Scale

BUILDINGS

For this experiment, instead of using earthquake-resistant designs, we opted for the most common designs used in the construction of tall buildings. Even though earthquakes occur less frequently and less violently located away from the tectonic plates, they still happen and could cause serious damage as well. We chose to include the cross-braced frame (X-bracing), moment resisting frame, and the shear wall building design in our experiment.

Cross-braced frame (X-Bracing) Cross-braced frames are one of the most popular choices for earthquake-resistant design due to their high structural stiffness, strength, and ability to disturbed energy through the diagonal, X-shaped material. Unlike most frames that rely on beams and columns, cross-bracing uses an axial-like structure. The use of triangular structures to resist lateral forces (side to side earthquake shaking) can create a sturdier and stronger building compared to the other designs. Cross-bracing buildings convert the violent seismic motion into tension and compression, which effectively prevents excessive sway and structural collapse.

Moment Resisting Frame Instead of the diagonal braces used in the cross-bracing building, moment resisting frames rely on strong beam-column joints. These joints resist bending moments which prevent the building from collapsing. The strong beams and columns used in the construction resists lateral loads (wind, seismic movements) primarily through bending. This structure form is also very popular in the architectural industry due to its flexible architectural spaces while withstanding significant deformations in steel or concrete, making it strong and sturdy.

Shear Wall Building Unlike other buildings, this structure uses solid vertical walls (typically filled with concrete or reinforced timber) to secure itself from lateral movements. These walls provide structural stiffness, preventing deformation, and reducing sway due to the stiff and heavy material used in the making of this building. These types of structures are most commonly used in high-rise buildings, for example, apartment buildings. It absorbs kinetic energy which reduces inter-story distortion, lateral displacement/movement between two consecutive floors of a building.

Independent variable: - movement speed of the platform - different structure shapes

Dependent variable: - the resistance of each model

Controlled variable: - the size of structures - platform used

1. Place one of the models on platforms
2. Secure the model with clay
3. Turn on the massage gun and put it inside the box and let the building shake for 10 seconds
4. Check how much the model shook and record on piece of paper
5. Find the average of how much the buildings shook after each level

Repeat the process 3 times per level There are a total of 3 levels that we’ve tested

Building #1 - Moment Resisting Frame - We’ve noticed that in the first level\, there was still « some » resistance. It didn’t look like they can survive the next level\, but it’s only a hypothesis…

Building #2 - Shear Wall Building - It was actually unbelievably stable\, especially on the second level

Building #3 - Cross-braced frame (X-Bracing) - We’ve noticed that it was quite stable\, in the second level\, it’s stable-ness was so strong\, the clay was lifted up by the building.

Overall - At Level 3, their amount of shaking was deathly close

Here are the results from our experiment *Note: R = right side of building, L = left side of building

Moment Resisting Frame : Like their name, ‘moment’ resisting frame, they can only resist for moments with obvious reasons. It's simple rigid structures doesn't hold themselves together throughout the shaking, making them tremble and sway the most out of the three.

Shear Wall Building : During the experiment it has proven itself to be worthy of resistance when facing amount of trembling. The shear wall model had two columns of popsicles which contribute with the force and weight pushing down, thus, making it more stable compared to the others.

Cross-braced frame (X-Bracing) : Triangles are the strongest resisting shape, but in the experiment, the x-bracing were too stable and too compacted together that when the platform was moving, they would fall together. Its results compared to the shear wall design were very close but it wasn't as stable as the shear wall design is because it doesn't have enough weight to secure itself on the platform.

In conclusion, this experiment shows that different building structures have different abilities when withstanding strong vibrations. Structures with reinforcement systems, shear walls models, swayed less than simple structures, moment-resisting models. Although the cross-braced frame had triangles in its structure (strongest resisting shape), it didn't had enough weight to push down on the platform, making it the second sturdiest model in our experiment. This indicates that additional support materials are used to distribute forces and minimize lateral movement during earthquakes. Overall, the results from this experiment confirms that the shear wall model is the sturdiest out of our three models and that structural design significantly improves a building’s ability to resist shaking and potential collapse.

These results from the experiment could be applied to real-life situations in many different ways. This can help us better understand the risk and the benefits of different types of building structures which would help us in the future if we look to become engineers. The major purpose of this experiment is to learn about how secure each building structure is to reduce life loss in case of an earthquake.

There are a couple errors that we had in our experiment:

- Weight difference between buildings Due to the different amount of glue and materials used in each building, the weight between them would be different. This difference could potentially cause a change in the overall experiment since weight can tend to make the buildings to be more secured on the platform, which makes it sturdier. To solve this problem, we could choose to attach some weights on the buildings when they are being shaken

- No actual stages of earthquakes (like in real life) Our buildings were mainly shaken by the massage gun, which couldn't mimic a real earthquake since earthquakes in real life have different stages to measure on. We could solve this by buying one of the earthquake simulators online to ensure the quality of the violence being done to the buildings

- The smoothness of the platform Our platform was made from a flat cardboard box being shaken by the massage gun we have. Due to its smoothness, it is unrealistic since in the real world, earthquakes are created by the constant and slow movement of the tectonic plates. This means the results could vary according to smoothness and the roughness of the platform. To reduce these errors, we could attach layers of popsicle sticks onto the platform to mimic the movement of the tectonic plates when the building is being shaken.

Earthquakes: Wald, Lisa. “The Science of Earthquakes.” USGS,  https://www.usgs.gov/programs/earthquake-hazards/science-earthquakes Sun, Alice. “Why do earthquakes happen far away from plate boundaries?” LiveScience, May 13, 2024, https://www.livescience.com/planet-earth/earthquakes/why-do-earthquakes-happen-far-away-from-plate-boundaries “Japan and Earthquakes: Why They Happen and How They are Measured.” Plaza Homes, June 24, 2025, https://www.realestate-tokyo.com/living-in-tokyo/emergency-disaster/earthquake-scale/

Buildings in General: CCPIA. Types of Lateral Force-Resisting Systems in Commercial Buildings. https://ccpia.org/types-of-lateral-force-resisting-systems-in-commercial-buildings/

Moment-Resisting Frame: Steel Specialties Inc. The Ultimate Earthquake Survivors: Steel Frames and Structures. January 21, 2020, https://www.steelspecialtiesinc.net/the-ultimate-earthquake-survivors-steel-frames-and-structures/  Moment-resisting frame, Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, July 15, 2025, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moment-resisting_frame

Cross-Bracing Frame: Fiveable Content Team. 7.2 Seismic design of braced frames. Fiveable.me, August 2025, https://fiveable.me/earthquake-engineering/unit-7/seismic-design-braced-frames/study-guide/ImPmvhfcdIixnw0L  Cross bracing, Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, December 24, 2025, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cross_bracing

Shear Wall: S3DA. Distribution of Shear Walls for Lateral Load Resistance https://s3da-design.com/shear-walls-for-lateral-load-resistance/  Suryakanta. “Why are Buildings With Shear Walls Preferred in Seismic Regions?” CivilBlog.Org, July 12, 2015, https://civilblog.org/2015/07/12/why-are-buildings-with-shear-walls-preferred-in-seismic-regions/ Shear wall, Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, February 14, 2026, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shear_wall

We would like to thank: - Our parents supporting\, encouraging\, and helping us throughout this experiment. - Ms. Cohen for answering our answers and clarifying what we need to do. We are thankful for having each other, without my partner, I wouldn't be able to complete this project on time.