The Kobe Earthquake.

INTRODUCTION

On the 1st of September 1923 Japan suffered its worst ever natural disaster when an earthquake followed by a tidal wave and fire struck Tokyo. The effects were devastating, 99,331 people were killed and 103,733 people were injured. After this event took place every Japanese citizen was issued with a box of essentials in case another earthquake should strike. In addition to this, they were all given a small amount of training and, in more recent times, 500 researchers have been working to predict if and when this could happen again.

Despite this, in 1995, an event took place that shocked observers worldwide.

KOBE

The South-central region of Japan is the second-most populated and industrialized area, after Tokyo, with a total population of about 10 million. Kobe on its own has a population of about 1.5 million and is very economically developed. Kobe is one of the richest cities in the world, producing as much wealth on its own as Canada! The Japanese built their houses traditionally out of wood here as wood was flexible and could bend with the ground if an earthquake took place. In modern times heavy tile roofs were put on top of their houses to sustain the strong winds which blew against them.

THE KOBE EARTHQUAKE

On the 17th of January 1995, at 5:46am local time, in the South-central region of Japan, Kobe was just beginning another new day. Suddenly a shock occurred which lasted for just 20 seconds; nevertheless, the damage was phenomenal. The earthquake occurred at a shallow depth on a fault running from Awaji Island through the city of Kobe and was just 20km below the surface.

The earthquake (the first in Kobe in 400 years) killed about 5,000 people and about 35,000 people were injured. Nearly 180,000 buildings were badly damaged or destroyed, and consequently around 350,000 people were made homeless on the night of the earthquake. The life loss caused by the earthquake was the worst in Japan since the 1923 Great Kanto (Tokyo) Earthquake. The economic loss from the 1995 earthquake may be the largest ever caused by a natural disaster in modern times.

...