July 19th, 2011
07:51 AM ET

Scientist: Tae Bo workout sent skyscraper shaking

Seventeen people performing a vigorous Tae Bo workout caused tremors that forced the evacuation of a South Korean skyscraper earlier this month, the building's owners say.

Prime Group, owner of the 39-story TechnoMart commercial-residential high-rise in Seoul, said 17 middle-aged people were working out to the pop song "The Power" by Snap on July 5 when their movements set the upper floors of the tower shaking for 10 minutes, according to a report from the Korea JoongAng Daily.

Scientists recreated the event in the 12th floor gym, according to a report in the Korea Times.

“We observed the vibrometer while performing the same kind of aerobic exercise that was performed at the time of the shaking which occurred on July 5. We noticed that the shaking was felt in the upper floors while the exercise was being performed while no other place showed signs of tremor,” Chung Lan, a professor of architectural engineering at Dankook University, told the Korea Times.

“It just happens to be that the vibration cycle caused by Tae Bo collided with the vertical vibration cycle unique to the building,” Chung told the Korea Times. The action amplified the building's vibration and caused the shaking, he said.

Chung was one of six professors from the Architectural Institute of Korea who inspected the building and recreated the Tae Bo exercise.

Tae Bo is a mixture of boxing and tae kwon do.

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Filed under: South Korea • World
soundoff (322 Responses)
  1. D. U.

    Whohhhh, Tae Bo rocks ¡

    July 19, 2011 at 5:33 pm | Report abuse |
  2. Lanfear

    HAHAhahahahaha!!!!!

    July 19, 2011 at 5:50 pm | Report abuse |
  3. MrBo

    Resonance is a killer.

    July 19, 2011 at 5:56 pm | Report abuse |
  4. Nikola Tesla

    Haha, told ya so!

    July 19, 2011 at 6:00 pm | Report abuse |
  5. smc

    That's nice. How about answering if the vibrations were within the safety limits of the building?

    July 19, 2011 at 6:02 pm | Report abuse |
    • Hasher Iva

      Apparently they were. The building didn't collapse.

      July 21, 2011 at 10:34 am | Report abuse |
  6. jose

    Okay, can we stop with all the fat-American jokes now?

    July 19, 2011 at 6:04 pm | Report abuse |
  7. David Daniels

    I think it's time to relocate to a different building, If a little Tae-Bo causes whole building to shake what's it going to do if something truely catastrophic happens like earth Quake? I wouldn't want to stick around in there for the answer.

    July 19, 2011 at 6:13 pm | Report abuse |
  8. RGeneration

    New building code: Must withstand an 8 scale earthquake and Tae Bo.

    July 19, 2011 at 6:19 pm | Report abuse |
  9. Chuck

    Now that is what I call Fung Sway?

    July 19, 2011 at 6:36 pm | Report abuse |
    • George

      Very funny! 🙂

      July 19, 2011 at 11:14 pm | Report abuse |
  10. julianpenrod

    The responses to hte comment I posted at 4:40 p.m. were all but universally contemptuous. Notice, though, that not one of those who took exception to what I said provided anything like proof or evidence. All they did was mock, call names, behave dismissively and act derisively. That is characteristic of New World Order moles intended to derail legitimate discussions. The New World Order is a criminal operation and so cannot be truthful about its machinations or goals. They cannot counter accusations, since the accusations are, at least largely, true. As a result, they do not try to convince everyone, they only aim at the dull witted and dim, those who resonate to displays of arrogance and contempt, those who don't ask for proof before being abusive, those who appreciate mockery, dismissiveness, derision, viciousness and vulgarity.

    July 19, 2011 at 7:00 pm | Report abuse |
    • leeintulsa

      @julianpenrod: OR, they are a bunch of losers with way too much time on their hands..

      July 19, 2011 at 7:06 pm | Report abuse |
  11. Sigh

    Ok, machine. Whatever.

    July 19, 2011 at 8:23 pm | Report abuse |
  12. encricorosan

    Tae Bo should then be banned above basement level just to be on the safe side of the vibration cycle.

    July 19, 2011 at 10:22 pm | Report abuse |
  13. Kevin

    Same basic theory as Tesla's earthquake machine.

    July 19, 2011 at 10:39 pm | Report abuse |
  14. George

    This story reminds me of the old theory that if all 1 billion people in China were to stand on chairs and jump off them at the same time, would it cause a massive earthquake and shift the earth's axis. We may need to revisit that theory.

    July 19, 2011 at 11:13 pm | Report abuse |
  15. InnerSanctum

    That's the POwer of Tae Bo!

    July 20, 2011 at 12:48 am | Report abuse |
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