Inside Japan’s Earthquake Simulator

This is the world’s largest earthquake simulator, here’s how it works. For a free trial to Shopify go to If you’re looking for a molecular modeling kit, head to to try Snatoms – a kit I invented where the atoms snap together magnetically. ▀▀▀ A massive thank you to everyone at NIED for allowing access to their facility. Massive thanks to Okouchi-san for arranging this shoot. A huge thank you to Dr. Yohsuke Kawamata for the tour of E-defense and for sharing his deep expertise. ▀▀▀ References: Nakashima, M., et al. (2018). Experiences, accomplishments, lessons, and challenges of E‐defense. Tests using world’s largest shaking table. Japan Architectural Review, 1(1), 4-17. - Suganuma, K. (2005). 3-D Full-Scale Earthquake Testing Facility (E-Defense). NISTEP Science & Technology Foresight Center. - Ohtani, K., et al. (2004). Construction of E-Defense (3-D full-scale earthquake testing facility). In Thirteenth World Conference on Earthquake Engineering (Vol. 189). - Horiuchi, T., et al. (2022). Contributions of E-Defense Shaking Table to Earthquake Engineering and its Future. Journal of Disaster Research, 17(6), 985-999. - Nakamura, I., et al. (2008). E-Defense experiments on full-scale wooden houses. In Proceedings of the 14th World conference on earthquake engineering, Beijing, China (pp. 12-17). - Japan: The Next Big Quake. Financial Times. - Images & Video: Kobe earthquake compilation - ▀▀▀ Special thanks to our Patreon supporters: carrotcypher, Chris Harper, Max Paladino, Balkrishna Heroor, Adam Foreman, Orlando Bassotto, Tj Steyn, meg noah, KeyWestr, TTST, John H. Austin, Jr., john kiehl, Anton Ragin, Diffbot, Gnare, Dave Kircher, Burt Humburg, Blake Byers, Evgeny Skvortsov, Meekay, Bill Linder, Paul Peijzel, Josh Hibschman, Juan Benet, David Johnston, Ubiquity Ventures, Richard Sundvall, Lee Redden, Stephen Wilcox, Marinus Kuivenhoven, Michael Krugman, Sam Lutfi. ▀▀▀ Directed by Will Wood and Petr Lebedev Written by Will Wood, Petr Lebedev and Derek Muller Edited by Jack Saxon and Trenton Oliver Animated by Fabio Albertelli, Ivy Tello, Leigh Williamson, David Szakaly Filmed by Petr Lebedev, Lui Kimishima and Derek Muller Produced by Will Wood, Petr Lebedev, Han Evans and Derek Muller Thumbnail by Ren Hurley Additional video/photos supplied by Getty Images and NIED (E-defense) Music from Epidemic Sound