A bullet train in China, running on magnetic levitation. The same technology could one day be used to make buildings more resilient to earthquakes, Canterbury University professor Stefano​ Pampanin​ says.

The same magnetic technology behind bullet trains could one day be used to make buildings more resilient to earthquakes, a Canterbury University professor says.

It's not going to happen in our lifetime, but we need to be heading that way, structural engineer Stefano​ Pampanin​ says, because the big one is coming.

"The technology we have so far is for base isolation and rubber bearings, so we are basically sitting on rollers.

SUPPLIED Pampanin hopes that, in future, earthquakes will have no more impact on our cities than a shower of rain.

"What we have so far is a cushion, but in future it could be a disconnection."

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Bullet trains, otherwise known as "maglev" trains, move through magnetic levitation, which reduces friction and allows them to move along the ground quickly.

FILE The William Clayton building in Thorndon, Wellington, is reputed to be the first base-isolated building in the world.

If we could apply this to buildings and bridges, earthquakes would "trigger elevation in the building", Pampanin said.

"But we don't have that technology now."

Pampanin splits his time between Canterbury and Sapienza University in Rome, where he is a professor in structural engineering. He was in Vienna for the deadly quake that hit L'Aquila, central Italy, on August 24, and in Canterbury for the November 14 quake.

The building code currently states we should design for buildings to allow people to get people out safely, even if they sustain damage.

His hope is that, in the future, the effects of earthquakes on our cities will be no more damaging than rain.

In Seattle, engineers are designing a bridge to be operational during earthquakes.

When tested in a lab, the memory-retaining titanium/nickel rods and flexible concrete composite returned to their original shape following a 7.5 magnitude earthquake.

We could use that here if we wanted, said Charles Clifton, associate professor in civil engineering at Auckland University.

But we're already working on cheaper, better solutions.

"We have looked at using shape memory alloys, but found they were by and large not nearly as good a solution they looked to be," Clifton said.

"And it's about 150 times the price of steel."

New Zealand has already pioneered earthquake building technology, starting back in 1982 with the former William Clayton building in Thorndon.

It is reputed to have been the first in the world to be built on base isolators, supported on 80 lead-rubber bearings that allow it to move up to 150mm in any horizontal direction.

But although the technology is not new, engineers have said it's not being used widely enough.

"The big problem really is cost," Canterbury engineering professor Andy Buchanan said.

"If a developer is developing a building, they are not interested in long-term performance, they are interested in short-term cost."