Did an earthquake finish off giant Arecibo mega-telescope?

The RSCIBO Observatory, once the largest telescope on Earth, collapsed following a series of structural failures. The collapse was triggered by a regional earthquake, which caused the tops of the support towers to snap, dropping the detector platform onto the reflector dish. This event was anticipated after previous cable failures. Initial studies suggest the collapse began with a stressed cable snapping, leading to the platform's fall and lateral stresses on the towers. Engineers believe the failure of one cable strand caused stresses that the towers couldn't withstand.

What event led to the collapse of the RSCIBO Observatory?

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What was the condition of the support cables before the collapse?

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Describe the sequence of events that caused the detector platform to fall.

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What assumptions did engineers make about the support towers?

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How did the failure of one cable strand affect the other cables?

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