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The columns that have fallen around the building, especially when seen from the air, have always excited the possibility of a reconstruction of the Temple of Zeus. 
Reconstruction of facade of Temple from B. H. Hill, The Temple of Zeus at Nemea (Princeton 1966) pl. VI. Such a reconstruction has long been done on paper, but a physical reconstruction only began in 1984 and was suspended for economic reasons, but the reconstruction of two columns on the north side of the building is scheduled for the latter half of 1999. 
Drawing showing three extant upright columns and first two to be reconstructed. If finances can be found, it may be possible to reconstruct the whole northeastern corner of the temple before the Olympic Games of 2004 in Athens. This possibility has led to the study of seismic dangers and engineering. These studies have shown that all the damage to the building was caused by deliberate destruction, mostly in the Early Christian period, during which time hundreds of blocks of the steps and foundations were removed. 
Detail of the Temple of Zeus in 1813 from the Southwest showing the off-balance capital, by Baron Otto Magnus von Stackelberg, in La Grèce, vues pittoresques et topographiques (Paris 1834) pl. 31. That earthquakes pose little threat is shown most succinctly by the fact that the earthquakes of 1858 and 1861, which measured 7.0 and 7.3 (Richter), respectively, did no discernible damage even though the single standing column previously had been undermined by about 20%, and its capital had been teetering precariously since before 1766. Capital and column remained in place despite those earthquakes, and others.
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