How could a structure be earthquake-proof? I was just doing some research about earthquake-proof buildings and I couldn't figure out how some buildings achieve that. All what I found was very brief and I just wish there could be an article or whatever that goes deep into this. 
 A: There are several techniques, as follows.
First, please note that in known earthquake zones, the general design objective is to make the building survivable which means the inhabitants can escape even though the building itself may be damaged beyond repair. 
The first method for buildings that are not tall is to add extra structural members around the outside wall that increase the shear resistance of the wall. This helps prevent the roof from coming down in the case that the walls fall off to one side. 
For buildings that are not tall and have large floor area, diagonal roof support members are added in the interior of the building, which contain gigantic shock absorbers that dissipate the shaking energy before it can get transmitted up from the ground level to the upper levels and roof structure. 
For tall slender buildings, the foundation is doubled, with one part having footings which are shear-isolated from the soil and rock beneath them with skids or sometimes rollers (which allow the ground to move laterally while the inertia of the building itself clamps its movement); those skids rest on a separate foundation platform to bear the static weight of the building. 
