https://medium.com/konsiteo-today/shinbashira-pagodas-exceptional-earthquake-resistance-9d7e3eac1d6d

In Japan, they developed large towers designed to slide and wobble in order to contain and disperse the seismic energies of the earth evenly, thereby avoiding disaster.

Within them is a large, central column that bears the brunt of all the seismic forces, and as it sways back and forth, it slowly releases the impulses felt within the tower at a steady rate.

It's not a far stretch to realize you can harness that energy, and find a way to release it out of the central column in a large burst.

By matching the resonant frequency of the pillar, like a large tuning fork, it's plausible you can tap into the energy of the pillar, like a massive sympathetic string.

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I'm not gonna rule out that there may be similar technology having been employed in many grand cathedrals scattered across the world, whose true function has been lost by intentional obfuscation or simply by neglect.

They used very particular types of stone, and some not readily local. Stone is actually a fantastic conduit for seismic forces -- every bit as much as glass or crystal can be, depending on scale. The harder a substance is, the more readily able it is to propagate a force throughout it. This resistance to morphing is actually what allows the piezoelectricity of crystals to produce an impulse in quartz-crystal watches. You would, however, need some way to tap into the charge being produced, whether by a catalyst of some sort (the bells) or some other apparatus.

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It's just a thought I had, and I'm not beholden to it. But these are the tidbits I've picked up which have informed my hypothesis, which is why I offered it up for discussion.