The simulated quake, which lasted just a few seconds, sent furniture and televisions flying but caused what the scientists described as surprisingly little damage. Most unexpectedly, all the windows remained intact.

The test is part of a four-year research project that aims to help builders construct safer houses in areas prone to earthquakes, such as California.

"This test here is very monumental in terms of data gathering. We have a wealth of data at the level that we've never pushed a building inside a laboratory," said lead investigator Professor Andre Filiatrault.

"Perhaps this knowledge now can trickle down to better provisions, requirements and building codes... so that we can save more lives," he added.

"The results... probably will change the way we model wood-frame structures," added John van de Lindt, principal investigator and associate professor at Colorado State University.

The test was designed to replicate a 6.7-magnitude quake that hit Los Angeles in 1994, causing extensive damage to wooden-built homes in particular.

The disaster caused more than 40 billion dollars' worth of damage and left more than 50 people dead and thousands homeless, according to official reports.

The test was carried out at the Structural Engineering and Earthquake Simulation Laboratory at the University at Buffalo, The State University of New York.

The university described the test as the largest ever conducted on a wooden building, with 250 sensors gathering detailed information about how each part of the house behaves during the simulation.

A dozen video cameras, eight inside and four outside, recorded the shaking.

The research project is to test a six-story, wood-frame structure on the world's largest shake table in Miki City, Japan, early in 2009. The Japanese facility was developed after the devastating 1995 Kobe earthquake.

Related Links
Colorado State University
When the Earth Quakes