Preventing the Fall of a God

Before it loses any more limbs, this famous 2,000-year-old statue of Hermes with the Infant Dionysos has been equipped with innovative seismic protection devices to help it withstand a powerful earthquake.

Considered an original of the famous Greek sculptor Praxiteles, the seven-foot marble sculpture depicting the messenger of the gods holding up the god of wine is located at the Archaeological Museum of Olympia in Geece. 

Instead of retrofitting the entire museum - a much more complex and expensive enterprise, engineers have isolated the Hermes statue on friction pendulum bearings, which allow the work of art to swing gently from side to side without toppling over.

Analyses by researchers from the University of Buffalo have concluded that the statue can now survive an earthquake of magnitude eight on the Richter scale.

The same sort of earthquake protection has been employed at airports in San Francisco and Istanbul, as well as giant offshore drilling platforms in Russia.

-- LiveScience Staff

Credit: University of Buffalo