Did you just feel that?

Columbus, Ohio is all a buzz about the earthquake we felt earlier today.  While it was nowhere near the shaking felt in the Virginia/D.C. area—where the magnitude 5.9 quake was centered—it is something for Ohioans to talk about. Ohio is not prone to strong quakes, fortunately, mainly due to the way fault lines run in this part of the county.  See the following map for a better view of how Ohio shakes up to the rest of the country.

 

However, quakes do happen, as plotted in the following map, stretching back to 1875. Central Ohio, however, has experienced little activity relative even to other parts of Ohio.

 

That being said, while the way we designed and constructed our purpose-built facility may have seemed over the top it’s days like today that remind us all that anything is possible. Just like in 2008 when Ohio was hit by a hurricane (Hurricane Ike for those who don’t remember), Ohio does experience seismic activity.  While we don’t see the same force, and near the same frequency, as seismic activity in the western US, the Southeast, and elsewhere, we’ve incorporated many of the same features that protect buildings in quake prone areas.   Our raised floors and ceiling structures meet California earthquake standards, our internal building structure is flexing steel with exterior concrete barriers, and our facility overall is designed to Miami Dade hurricane standards. The ability for a building to move with the Earth’s motions (and high winds, etc.) is key to withstanding the toughest elements. 

There are many reasons Ohio is an ideal location for a high-availability data center, but just because nature’s fury doesn’t normally happen here doesn’t mean it can’t.  This is why DataCenter.BZ built its center to meet the toughest requirements.  Now we can simply say, did you just feel that?...and move on with our day.