But what's weird, IMO, is that some of the shorter highrises like the Millennium Tower were approved to be built not anchored, but on pylons floating in the soil layer:
https://sf.curbed.com/2016/9/16/12945600/why-millennium-towe...
https://sf.curbed.com/2016/9/15/12930402/millennium-towner-s...
I mean, sure, as long as things are stable, the weight of the building will keep it in place. But I don't think anyone knows how the soft layer underneath most of SOMA will behave, when a big earthquake comes. People know it will undergo liquification, but by how much, and what will it do to buildings on "floating" foundations, that's not certain...