South Korean experts said last Tuesday they believe a vigorous gym exercise session caused a high-rise building in the capital to shake for 10 minutes this month, prompting hundreds to flee in panic.
They said tests showed that oscillations created by a group of Tae Bo practitioners on the 12th floor of the 39-story TechnoMart mall building apparently resonated through the structure.
Tae Bo is an aerobic exercise routine that involves performing the motions of boxing and martial arts such as Taekwondo at a rapid pace.
Photo: Reuters
照片:路透
Professor Chung Lan of Danguk University in Yongin City near Seoul linked the incident to a physics principle under which catastrophic failures can occur when the vibration of a structure is matched by another source.
He told a radio program that the building, constructed from iron girders and cement, had a characteristic vibration frequency which was “in phase” with the synchronized movements of the Tae Bo practitioners.
Chung and six others recreated the scenario which caused the panic on July 5 — with a group of 17 middle-aged people working out to the tune of a pop song, “The Power” by German group Snap — and said the building shook in a similar way.
Photo: Reuters
照片:路透
On the first occasion hundreds fled the building as it shook for about 10 minutes. The Gwangjin district government ordered the mall closed but reopened it after experts said it was structurally sound.
The gym remains off-limits.
(AFP)
南韓專家上週二表示,他們認為在本月健身房激烈運動課程,導致一棟位於首都的高樓震動約十分鐘,造成上百人(誤以為是地震)倉皇而逃。
他們說,測試結果顯示,造成大樓搖晃的是在三十九樓高的科技商城購物中心內,一群在十二樓跳著拳擊有氧的民眾,該運動顯然和建築物產生共震。
拳擊有氧是一種規律有氧運動,涵蓋快速拳擊和類似跆拳道的武術動作。
鄰近首爾的龍仁市檀國大學Chung Lan教授認為,該現象和物理原理有關,當一棟建築物的震動頻率與外來力量相符,就有可能釀成災難。
Chung Lan在廣播電台節目中表示,這棟鋼骨水泥大樓,其震動頻率恰好和跳拳擊有氧的民眾齊跳的動作「共震」。
為了證明確實如此,Chung與其他六名專家重建七月五日因「怪震」造成恐慌的現場,找來十七名中年民眾,隨德國樂團Snap的流行歌曲「力量」賣力跳著拳擊有氧,大樓果真出現類似的搖晃。
當天大樓搖晃約十分鐘,大樓內數百民眾奪門而出。廣津區官員下令關閉購物中心,但在專家表示該大樓結構無虞後,再度開放。
而該健身中心仍不准進入。
(法新社/翻譯:林亞蒂)
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