Japan being the earthquake prone country is, ironically famous for its high buildings and structures. They have maintained to sustain such strong earthquakes only because of their strict building codes .Many aspects of civil engineering are followed for making earthquake resistant buildings.
Following things from engineering are applied for constructions of buildings & structures in Japan:
↪ Buildings are strengthened enough to prevent from whipping back and forth and flexible enough to sway.
↪Tall buildings or structures are buttressed (i.e, giving exterior support to sideway forces). Similarly, shock absorbers are bolted to inner steel skeleton. Shock absorber helps to absorb jolts or vibrations which can be very helpful during earthquake of high magnitudes.
↪ Existing buildings are reinforced by strengthening the walls (by using steel bars & connecting wings to the main structure with steel bracing).
↪ At the base of a building a moat is sometimes built to separate it from the ground. A suspension system of steel and rubber isolators is installed that allows the building to move independently from the ground and seismic dampers are placed at the base of support columns that act as shock absorbers.
[And of course, there may be many things which are considered in the construction of buildings beside these things. These are just an example how quake resistant structures are made]
