The pre-modern structures were utterly unable to withstand a quake of such force, and massive landslides contributed to the casualties.

古代的房屋建筑完全不能抵挡这样的大地震，大面积的山体滑坡也导致不少人遇难。

youdao

But even a magnitude 9 quake hardly lies beyond the boundary of the Largest Conceivable Earthquake that Tepco claims its plants are designed to withstand.

但即使震级高达里氏9.0级，也没有超出东京电力公司声称其核电站设计的抗震级别上限——该公司宣称，这些核电站抵抗得住可想到的最强地震。

youdao

Adang Surahman, an earthquake engineering expert at Indonesia's Bandung Institute of Technology,says most of Jakarta's high-rises have been built to withstand what scientists refer to as the once in 500-year quake.

VOA: standard.2009.09.07

But the plant was designed only to withstand a 7.0 quake, not the 9.0 that hit Japan.

FORBES: Could San Diego's Oceanside Nuke Plant Survive A Tsunami?