Is There Such A Thing As An Earthquake Proof Building?

Earthquake means ground movement and this movement induces an inertia in the building and this results in displacement. So the main factors that depend on the earthquake force is the acceleration of ground and the mass of the building. It is not really possible to exactly know the magnitude of the earthquake that would occur. ie; the acceleration of ground. The best thing we can do is to arrive at a possible acceleration based on earth strata and the history of occurrences. This makes it very difficult to conclusively say that we can design an earthquake proof building. Secondly, by saying that the building is earthquake proof means that the energy that the building absorbs during ground movement is dissipated by oscillation and deflection and with out any crack formation. It takes a lot of effort and cost to achieve this. Therefore the practice across the globe is to design for a part of this expected acceleration (generally 10 to 15%) and achieve earth quake resistance ie, no cracks during mild quakes and no sudden collapse during higher quakes so that people can move out of the building.