How do ancient buildings survive hundreds of years of natural disasters e.g. earthquakes?
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Keep in mind that the ancient buildings still around today are not an example of the average building of that time, they are just the ones build strong enough to be left.
This is a case of survivorship bias.
So the ancient buildings still standing today are the ones that were built the toughest back in the day.
Of course even the ones that are still standing aren’t just because they were built right, but because they were maintained and repaired well over the generations.
Building methods have changed. reinforced concrete allows you to build things that you could never build with just concrete or other more ‘primitive’ materials, but it simply won’t last that long.
Modern techniques are not always optimized for longevity or to withstand once in a century disasters but often simply for cost.
Building codes ensure that builders can’t skimp too much, but it still is a question of money when it comes to how much more than the absolute minimum they want to do.
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