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Areas that are prone to earthquakes require buildings that are designed to resist seismic loads. In smaller structures, such as houses, most seismic resistance is a by-product of the method of construction employed: solid foundations help keep buildings in place while timber construction allows for some vibrations to shake and sway structures without breaking them. Also, design measures used to resist weight and wind loads also help with seismic resistance Of course, in a strong enough earthquake, none of these measures may be enough to keep a house intact

In larger structures, a variety of techniques are used to resist seismic forces. First of all, all tall buildings are made to bend in the wind. In fact, if you are on an upper floor of a skyscraper during an earthquake you may be amazed (or simply terrified) when you see the relative movement of the building you are in (by looking out of the window and your surroundings). However, buildings can, of course, only take so much of this before they fracture or otherwise fail structurally. To counteract seismic forces, some tall buildings use seismic isolators below ground to keep the building from fully moving with the earth. Others employ sizable counterweight systems suspended on upper stories which, when the building begins to sway, provide an inertial resistance, also limiting their movement.

Many of the advances made in seismic building technologies have come from sensors that architects are required to have installed in new tall buildings. These all scientists to measure the effects of earthquakes on buildings after they pass. It is also worth nothing that the frequency of an earthquake has a significant impact on what buildings will suffer the most damage. When the frequency of the seismic forces aligns with the frequency of a building the results can be catastrophic. In one such case in Mexico City, buildings that were three to four stories were most devastated in a quake simply because of their height relative to the quake.

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