Direct:
When the quake struct many of the poorly constructed building in the area collapsed, over 200,000 buildings collapsing whilst the quake raged for 30 seconds. The many ports in the Kobe area were damaged instantly. Train lines and the famous expressway also received damage in the earthquake. One section of the line actually collapsed, and many others broke in places of large movement. This being because the ground moved 7 inches in horizontal shaking in this earthquake, and 4 inches in the vertical direction, the greatest ever recorded in Japan.
Secondary:
As stated before hand secondary effects are, in most cases, the more damaging of the two effects, as they last much long than the short quakes. Fire was most definitely the worst of the secondary effects. More than 150 fires occurred in Kobe and surrounding areas in the hours after the earthquake. These resulted in several large fires, and fire fighters were for the most part unable to combat them because of streets being blocked by collapsed buildings and building debris, traffic congestion, and severe water system damage.
Nearly 5,500 deaths occurred purely from fire alone, with the number of injured people reaching about 35,000. Nearly 180,000 buildings were badly damaged or destroyed, and officials estimate that more than 300,000 people were homeless on the night of the earthquake.
The life loss caused by the earthquake was the worst in Japan since the 1923 Great Kanto Earthquake, when about 140,000 people were killed, mostly by the post-earthquake conflagration. The economic loss from the 1995 earthquake may be the largest ever caused by a natural disaster in modern times. The direct damage caused by the shaking is estimated at over 100 billion. This does not include indirect economic effects from loss of life, business interruption, and loss of production.
The railway lines gradually recovered, and the line between Kyoto and Himeji remains closed for a long time. Damage from the fallen bridge girders and collapsed railway bases was immense and the rebuilding of these took months .The expressways were crippled for months before finally returning to normal schedule.
When the electricity went out as generators cut off because of the quake over 1 million people were left without electricity. Communication was also vastly affected.
Around 250,000 telephone lines were paralysed at one point. Communication networks were also destroyed due to secondary effects of fire, as the telegraph poles and cables were destroyed. Full scale recovery took more than a month to get all systems back up and running.
But one of the most surprising effects was the numbers made homeless on the night of the quake. There weren’t enough blankets for the 200, 000 people who either lost their houses or were taking refuge for some other reason spent the night in unheated gyms or in parks. In Awaji Island, the epicentre, the nighttime temperature dipped down to -2 C, and there is a shortage of blankets.
2.3 million people were without water for almost 3 days following the earthquake all due to pipes breaking and networks failing.
What can be done to limit the effects if it happens again?
Following the example of places like San Francisco with their huge number of earthquake proofed buildings Japan is striving to improving the quality of all its buildings. They should practise drills and procedures and equip fire teams better to harness fire. They should research more into seismology, as now days with improved equipment earthquakes are easier to detect. Improving communication with services and the population is the route to improved and limiting the damage and death of future hazards.
PIC OF BUILDING
