In 1996, Arquitectonica completed the "Chia Pet, " a garage with six levels of parking plopped on top of a historic block of buildings and shrouded entirely in greenery, and earned rave reviews.

WSJ: A Sleek, Chic Hangout ... the Parking Garage

Following the quake, investigators in Yunlin county discovered that three crumbled structures had been erected by a construction company that had used empty plastic bottles and tin cans as filler to save on concrete and bricks. (The owner was arrested.) In Dali, a massive apartment block suffered major damage: one of the 11-story buildings was uprooted from the ground and fell backward.

CNN: ASIANOW - TIME Asia | Taiwan: The Day the Earth Moved--Page 3

While the center of Erfurt is still picturesque and remains a big draw for tourists, some big block buildings on the city's outskirts that used to be residential apartments now sit empty, many of them boarded up.

WSJ: Germany's Rapidly Aging Population Threatens Rural Towns

"We are always concerned when older and more or less intact buildings are getting torn down to be replaced with something new on a block that has a lot of character, " said Tara Kelly, the executive director of Friends of the Upper East Side Historic Districts.

WSJ: Side by Side Homes on Upper East Side Go on Market Together for $11.95 Million