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If they all break, the outer end flys off into space, and the lower end falls to the earth, causing much damage to the surrounding area. (Imagine several miles of cable and equipment falling from space...)
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Not exactly true. The outer end flys off into space (beginning at GEO I think, and the rest comes down, but it has to fall for such a long distance, and nanotubes are so light that it would be more like a world wide ticker tape parade than anything, plus, it would fall right around the equator, which of course, is a spot on earth where there just aren't that many people.
A space elevator collapse would be more of a disaster because it took a long time to build that damn thing than it would for stuff falling to earth.
TFS
[just picking a nit.]
