What if the WTC towers had fallen over, rather than imploded?

[Berkut]

Someone on CSW mentioned that had the WTC towers fallen over, rather than imploded, the amount of damage and death toll would have been similar to a small nuclear weapon going off.

Seemed rather ridiculous, but then...


They are really fucking big. They make other really big buildings look puny. Seems like the amount of damage they could do to Manhattan if they fell over would in fact be immense. How many other buildings would be taken out?

[Darth Wagtaros]

I expect this from Tim Berkut.  Somehow tied into Lee accepting Queen Victoria's surrender at Appomatix.

The towers could not have fallen over because when the Government set the whole thing up they made sure to rig the towers for controlled collapse.

[Maximus]

IIRC that's what the original WTC bombing was supposed to do.

[Josquius]

A lot.
Luckily they're not falling their full height- they're hit in the middle/top so a sizable amount drops off first.
Weren't the buildings around about evacuated after they were hit?

[Berkut]

I expect this from Tim Berkut.  Somehow tied into Lee accepting Queen Victoria's surrender at Appomatix.

The towers could not have fallen over because when the Government set the whole thing up they made sure to rig the towers for controlled collapse.

WTF are you babbling about? Queen Victoria?

And is that really true - they were designed to collapse? That is kind of cool, I wonder how they do that...got a link or anything? Not that I don't believe you, but because I would like to know more.

[Strix]

I am quite sure the death toll would have been much higher. Just look at the damage to surrounding buildings caused by falling debris. Throw in that chances are it would have crushed nearby rescue personnel and watchers.

[Darth Wagtaros]

I expect this from Tim Berkut.  Somehow tied into Lee accepting Queen Victoria's surrender at Appomatix.

The towers could not have fallen over because when the Government set the whole thing up they made sure to rig the towers for controlled collapse.

WTF are you babbling about? Queen Victoria?

And is that really true - they were designed to collapse? That is kind of cool, I wonder how they do that...got a link or anything? Not that I don't believe you, but because I would like to know more.

I was being facetious, referring to conspiracy theories about the Feds being behind 11 September and Timmay's love for strange alternative history.

[jimmy olsen]

Perhaps a few hundred more rescue workers would have been killed, but that's not like a small nuke going off.

Now if there hadn't been evacuation drills conducted because of the 1st attack, than the building collapse would have killed thousands more, maybe tens of thousands.

[Berkut]

I am quite sure the death toll would have been much higher. Just look at the damage to surrounding buildings caused by falling debris. Throw in that chances are it would have crushed nearby rescue personnel and watchers.

The size of those things - they would have killed a lot more than resuce workers and watchers. They would have killed people blocks and blocks away. And a lot of people - would have seen some nasty domino effect as they took out more skyscrapers.

[HisMajestyBOB]

I doubt they'd fall over like a tree; rather, after having tipped over enough, the building structure itself would break apart. Skyscapers aren't designed to hold up very well when tilted.

It'd still cause more damage to the immediate surrounding area, though.

[Darth Wagtaros]

I am quite sure the death toll would have been much higher. Just look at the damage to surrounding buildings caused by falling debris. Throw in that chances are it would have crushed nearby rescue personnel and watchers.

The size of those things - they would have killed a lot more than resuce workers and watchers. They would have killed people blocks and blocks away. And a lot of people - would have seen some nasty domino effect as they took out more skyscrapers.

I do agree with this.   An entire region would have been hit by fires, street collapse, and general chaos.

[ulmont]

And is that really true - they were designed to collapse? That is kind of cool, I wonder how they do that...got a link or anything? Not that I don't believe you, but because I would like to know more.

Here's the NIST draft report on the collapse, which doesn't seem to say anything relevant:
http://wtc.nist.gov/media/NIST_NCSTAR_1A_for_public_comment.pdf

If you think about it, though, with the incredible weight of the building, I can only imagine that any tipping would have resulted in collapse straight down as soon as the pieces leaned out.

[Alexandru H.]

No way. It would have been impossible to prevent any  from dying if the buildings would have fallen over.

[garbon]

I am quite sure the death toll would have been much higher. Just look at the damage to surrounding buildings caused by falling debris. Throw in that chances are it would have crushed nearby rescue personnel and watchers.

The size of those things - they would have killed a lot more than resuce workers and watchers. They would have killed people blocks and blocks away. And a lot of people - would have seen some nasty domino effect as they took out more skyscrapers.

I do agree with this.   An entire region would have been hit by fires, street collapse, and general chaos.

Wouldn't it depend on direction? There aren't really many skyscrapers in the northern vicinity. Likewise with the south, although those buildings are bit taller than the northern ones. West knocks buildings into the Hudson...

[DisturbedPervert]

I doubt they'd fall over like a tree; rather, after having tipped over enough, the building structure itself would break apart. Skyscapers aren't designed to hold up very well when tilted.

Haven't you seen the previews for 2012?  Building can flip over and roll along the ground, smashing thousands.