I seem to recall that some ancient Japanese temples and shrines also have extensive earthquake protection involving foundations “floating” on layers of sand and stone. The grain size of the sand or stones plays a significant role in isolating the structure from the earthquake oscillations. Layers of different grain sizes dampen different frequency oscillations. Perhaps the boundary between layers also helps.

A good book on the topic is The Genius of Japanese Carpentry: The Secrets of a Craft by Azby Brown. Though the showcased temple is not using 700 year old wood, it may lead to other temples that are still that old (in infrastructure).