Base isolation

Base isolation is like playing with building blocks. Imagine you have a big tower of blocks that you want to keep safe from things that might shake it, like earthquakes or strong wind. Before putting the blocks on top of each other, you put some special blocks underneath the tower. These special blocks are like shock absorbers that can move around when the tower shakes.

When an earthquake or strong wind comes along, the tower can move around a bit because of the shock absorbers underneath. But because the tower isn't directly on the ground anymore, it doesn't get as much shaking or vibration as it would if it was just sitting on the ground.

Base isolation works the same way for buildings. Instead of just sitting on the ground, the building is built on special shock absorbers that can move around during an earthquake or other strong forces. This way, the building doesn't shake or move as much, and people inside are less likely to get hurt.

So just like how you use special blocks to keep your tower from falling over, base isolation uses special shock absorbers to keep buildings safe during earthquakes and other natural disasters.