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Originally posted by chiron613
I'm pretty sure those are fire doors held open by an electromagnet. In case of a fire, the circuit is opened and the magnets lose power. The doors close, hopefully trapping the fire in a limited area. In case of power failure (during a fire or otherwise), the doors will also close.
I would guess that the magnet on the floor was a coincidence.
I doubt that there could have been any sort of massive electromagnetic pulse that would wipe out magnets on different floors, without also trashing the electronics in the place (computers, phones, etc.). Could be wrong, but you'd need one heck of a pulse, and that would have some noticeable effects.