This Video Of SkyScraper Swaying In Wind Is As Scary As It Gets

An undated video that shows a skyscraper ‘swaying’ in the wind at night is raking in likes. The sped-up clip shows the tall structure moving from left to right as the traffic below continues as usual. This video was shared on Instagram by Unilad on Thursday. The video’s caption said, “I’d wake up thinking I was on a boat.” So far it has over 36,000 likes. It is unclear when and where this video was first taken. In the comments, many people highlighted how it was a good thing that the tall building was swaying in the wind. An Instagram user wrote, “If it didn’t sway, it would end in tragedy.” Another commented, “Buildings need a bit of lea-way otherwise the slightest tremor would collapse them.”

A post shared by UNILAD (@unilad)

An Instagram user explained, “Apart from the fact the footage has been sped up so the swaying looks more pronounced than it is, obviously tall buildings sway in high winds they are built like that otherwise there’s too much tension put on the structure and things snap. I used to work in a tower block and could feel it sway in high winds if I stood still. Weird feeling though.” Some noticed that only a timelapse video can capture the movement of skyscrapers and asserted, “If it wasn’t a time-lapse we probably wouldn’t be able to notice the swaying.”

As per an article on the website of Skydeck Chicago, an observation deck located on the 103rd floor of the Willis Tower, most skyscrapers are designed in a way that they can withstand “against 100 mile-per-hour winds, with only slight movement detected from inside.” The article mentioned that Burj Khalifa in Dubai can move almost two meters in “back-and-forth sway from its 163rd floor.”

In July 2021, a video taken at Australia 108, a residential supertall skyscraper in Melbourne, went viral. The video, posted by Australian rapper Illy showed the pool located on the 70th floor showing a rippling effect in response to powerful winds.

While sharing this clip, Illy wrote, “Tell me it was windy in Melbourne today without *saying* it was windy in Melbourne.. I’ll go first.” According to 10 News First Melbourne, winds with a speed of 100 kilometers per hour hit Melbourne on the day of the footage.

Multiplex, the company that built Australia 108, responded to the footage. In a statement to Vice News, the company spokesperson said, “Buildings are designed to move in extreme wind, and the building is simply behaving as it should.”