[sinab]

The article demonstrates a multi-axis base for dampening the force imparted by S-waves, generated by Earthquakes, to artwork. But earthquakes also generate longitudinal waves (P-waves). I wonder whether P-waves are strong enough to damage artwork and whether a system should also be put in place to protect against them.

[chiph]

I thought the design of the isolator with it's angled ramps was clever (watch the video at the bottom of the article). But as you say, there's no protection in the vertical direction. My time in California has been limited, so I don't know what the z-axis velocities and displacements would be like in a significant earthquake. Since they spent a non-trivial amount of money on designing this, I can only assume the consultants & engineers took that into account.