The NYT takes a look at the drastically differing approaches (and ideologies behind them) towards earthquake safety in Japan compared with the United States and asks experts what would be at stake in the greater, urban picture in the anticipated event of a very big earthquake.

"The debate over whether to build more resilient buildings in the United States has been held largely out of public view, among engineers and other specialists," the piece goes. "But at stake is whether places like Silicon Valley, Seattle, Salt Lake City, San Francisco or Los Angeles might be forced to shut down after a direct hit — and for how long."

While strict regulations and advances in seismic engineering in Japan appear to favor base-isolated structures to allow tall buildings to resist the shaking ground, the regulation-averse American construction industry overwhelmingly sees base isolation as an expensive, optional measure for an unlikely event with foreseeable risk.