The cities lifelines also suffered a great deal. All three railway links to outside cities where destroyed. Kobe’s main elevated motorway had astonishingly collapsed for over a kilometre and those using it soared of into mid-air. Yoshio Fukamoto, a bus driver who had managed to escape his bus while the front half was 6 feet suspended in space, described the situation as, “Like watching a scene from a movie.” Many roads also were elevated from the ground.
Most of the utilities and services within the city suddenly came to a halt. Water, gas and electricity ran through underground cables/pipes and so as the ground began to move rigid cables and pipes began to break. Kobe’s ever-important port also lost 120 out of 150 of its quays. Within a span of 20 seconds $150 billions dollars of basic infrastructure was demolished.
The secondary effects of the Hanshin quake were an outbreak of fires within the city and a plethora of socio-economic problems. Broken gas pipes and sparking electrical cables began to ignite fires across the city. At one point 300 fires were burning in different places. Since most lifelines came to a halt, the Kobe fire department had no way of reaching the sudden outbreaks. The fires burnt down 7500 homes.
The earthquake and fires killed 5,250 people and left over 400,000 people homeless. Those that did survive the quake were freezing because there was no gas for heat. Also they were thirsty and starving due to the lack of food/water being circulated. The people of Kobe had lost more in 20 seconds than most people lose in a lifetime. Yet, they surprisingly remained quiet and unmoved. The majority of people did not yell or become hysterical, but rather utter words like, “Shoganai” meaning it cannot be helped. An elderly man sitting in front of his shattered house with a flask in his hand said, “Everything is gone, what can I do except sip and smile?”
Although Japan is a country that shuns direct attacks, some people had had enough of inactiveness. One survivor stated, “Many had to watch our homes burn down without a fireman in sight. Then we have to go without food and water because the authorities are so disorganized.” The people of Kobe were miserable and somewhat angry, but not because their homes were demolished, but because their country which had prided itself on being seismically prepared was, in fact, as unprepared as anywhere else in the world. The Japanese Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama confessed, “The lack of preparedness and bureaucratic bungling significantly delayed recovery efforts.”
The people of Kobe had a right to be infuriated; they had suffered one of the worst quakes in history yet there was no immediate response by authorities. In fact it took a whole four hours before the governor asked for help from the Japanese defence forces. And the JDF in turn took five hours to respond and two days to arrive in Kobe. Teams of doctors were also delayed at the airport because they did not have the necessary licenses to practice. Furthermore, it took two days to get permission for 50,000 blankets to be shipped in from the USA. And finally although 60 nations offered assistance to Japan, only 20 where accepted. Authorities had always given the impression that Kobe was designed to withstand severe earthquakes and that it was prepared for the worst emergency, but when the quake hit, impressions were destroyed with everything else.
The city of Kobe is one of the most important centres of industry in Japan. Its port is the second largest in the country and the sixth largest in the world. The port of Kobe handles 12% of worldwide Japanese exports and 31% of imports to the United States. As mentioned above 120 out of 150 of the ports quays were destroyed. This affected manufactured goods from Mitsubishi, Mazda and Toyota whom had to find different shipping locations. American companies Proctor & Gamble, Caterpillar and many others also suffered greatly in the disaster. Kobe port was the hub port for the Asia and Pacific region and played an essential role in the field of international distribution. The deterioration in port functions interrupted distribution channels in Asia and the Pacific and forced suppliers and distributors to find different hubs to depend on. Almost 2% of GDP was lost in the Great Hanshin earthquake, helping Japan further stride into recession.
Although authorities did not immediately arrive on the scene, they did eventually arrive. By January 24th, 589 evacuation shelters were set up to house 236,899 people. Once the re-construction of Kobe began, it moved at a rapid pace. By February 24th all schools reopened, this played vital role in the psychological recovery of the city’s youth. In July 1995 water, electricity, gas and telephone services where restored. By August of that same year the railway was fully functional. 1995 was called the “first year of volunteerism,” because 1.13 million volunteers from all over Japan arrived to help rebuild Kobe. Countless amounts of laws were passed to make buildings and structures more earthquake resistant. Endless donations and funds flowed in to help victims. By January 1999, 134000 houses had been constructed, yet many continue to live in temporary housing. For those who live in temporary housing, the move to permanent housing will take time and patience on their part. Realizing this, the Japanese government established the Kobe Housing Transition Promotion Centre. Furthermore, it established the Post-Quake Citizen Support Services to help heal the emotional scars left by the Great Hanshin Earthquake.
On Tuesday, January 17th 1995, at 5:46 a.m. an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.2 on the Richter scale struck the city of Kobe. At the time Kobe had a population of 1.5 million people and was supposedly one of the most quake-safe cites in Japan. In spite of the fact that the ground shook for only 20 seconds, Kobe suffered great amounts of geological, structural, social and economical damage. The people of Kobe although in shock, surprisingly remained solid and unmoved. At the same time they also felt they had been betrayed by a country that had prided itself on being seismically prepared for so long, when it fact it wasn’t. The authorities of Kobe have realized that the illusion of preparedness was the key to their failure. Not only have all new buildings become more earthquake resistant but authorities have also established a restoration fund, which through investment will yield 350 billion yen over 10 years, just in case any other devastating events occur. Additionally Authorities are thankful for all the international support during the time of crisis and in return are reusing all temporary housing units to help support international earthquake victims. The Great Honshu quake brought to light the fact that every city in Japan is just as earthquake prone as the other, and therefore safety measures should not just be concentrated in specific areas of the country.
