It is very common for buildings to have basements.. even multiple basements to cover multi-level parkings. And in many places. The soil are hard rock and they have to drill into the ground. What I wonder is the surrounding rocks are grade level and the buildings let's say have 3 basements. During seismic movement, won't the surrounding rock crush the walls of the basements or do they move together? I never design underground basements and would never do it because of huge costs but just wondering this aspects after seeing many like this in many locations. It is very common for buildings to have basements.. even multiple basements to cover multi-level parkings. And in many places. The soil are hard rock and they have to drill into the ground. What I wonder is the surrounding rocks are grade level and the buildings let's say have 3 basements. During seismic movement, won't the surrounding rock crush the walls of the basements or do they move together? I never design underground basements and would never do it because of huge costs but just wondering these aspects after seeing many buildings with multi-basements in locations which have hard rock and this can go to hundreds of miles.