The physical effects were very bad and destructive. As the earthquake measured in at 7.7 on the Richter scale, there was a lot of destruction. All official buildings had collapsed and most major hospitals had been destroyed which meant that injured people could not be helped. The other cause of death and destruction were the landslides (rocks and soil from the mountains). It came and took down trees, houses and people becoming bigger and causing more destruction. Fissures in the ground and the displacement of land surfaces meant that you could not build on the land again and it was not safe to live there.
There were many longer-term impacts. Altogether, approximately 87,550 people died and 138,000 were injured (many were permanently disabled). This had a huge impact on the population of the Kashmir and took time to build up again. All Infrastructures were destroyed thus there was a lot of repair work to do. It was also very costly so this put the Kashmir into an economic depression. Communication was also cut so all phone lines had to be mended and put up. It took the Kashmir a lot of time to acquire the money and repair the infrastructure. People are still suffering the consequences of the earthquake today.
A lot of Earthquake aid was needed as the Kashmir did not have sufficient resources to help its people. The countries that helped the Kashmir included India, the UK, the USA and Malaysia. Also many charities helped- including Oxfam, the Red Cross and other non-governmental organizations. International rescue supplied CO2 sniffers and specially trained sniffer dogs to search for gas leakages and people. Also they provided food, clean water, clothing, shelter, heating and sanitation. The Pakistani president, Musharaf appealed for tents, food, medicine and helicopters as the government did not have enough money and resources.
Kobe, Japan
Also at 5:46 on the morning of 17th of January 1995, an earthquake with the magnitude of 7.2 hit Kobe, Japan (an MEDC). The earthquake lasted for twenty seconds.
Kobe is in the south-west of Japan. It is on the Nojima Fault which lies above a destructive plate margin. This means that earthquakes are very likely to happen here. The Philippines plate (oceanic crust) was forced downwards by the Eurasian plate (continental crust). There was so much damage done because the earthquake’s focus was very close to the surface and the epicentre was so close to Kobe.
The immediate effects of the earthquake on Kobe were very bad. Nearly two hundred thousand buildings had fallen down and also numerous bridges along the bullet train route had collapsed. Many trains were derailed and this caused a lot of causalities. One hundred and twenty of the one hundred and fifty quays in the port of Kobe were destroyed which affected import/export.
The social impacts were that 5500 people died, 40,000 people were injured (many were permanently disabled) and approximately 180,000 houses were completely destroyed leaving people homeless with no clean water, food, clothing and shelter for a short-period of time. People were very afraid of the aftershocks and they were also worried for their family members and friends.
Physical impacts were quite bad. Over 200,000 buildings had collapsed and a 1km stretch of the Hanshin Expressway had fallen. Numerous bridges had also collapsed leaving huge heaps of rocks and rubble on the ground. The earthquake caused many fissures to form in the ground making it unsafe for humans. Broken gas pipes and ruptured electricity mains caused fires that raged for many days which destroyed a further 7500 houses. Many of the houses were made of wood. Many of the roads were blocked, delaying ambulances and fire engines.
The damages cost a lot of money to repair but the money used to build the newer buildings was worth it. The Kansai International Airport and the Akashi Bridge were both undamaged because they were built to withstand earthquakes. Kobe did not receive aid from other countries as it possessed the money needed to pay for the repair work. Major industries including Mitsubishi and Panasonic were forced to close down resulting in job losses and it also affected Japan’s GDP for a couple of months.
There were many longer-term impacts. Kobe’s infrastructure i.e. running water, electricity, gas, telephone services, hospitals and other buildings and transport was fixed and was fully operational by July. The area worst affected by the fire had been cleared but had not been rebuilt. Most commercial buildings in Kobe’s centre had been repaired. The new, repaired buildings had been built with sophisticated modern materials and structure so that next time it could withstand an earthquake. E.g. higher buildings had to have flexible steel frames and smaller buildings had to have concrete frames with reinforcing bars to absorb shockwaves. Also newer buildings had to be built with fire resistant materials. Also more seismic instruments are now being used to record and follow seismic activity.
Why Were the Earthquake Impacts Different?
The Kashmir was not ready for the Earthquake and as it is a poor region, it didn’t have the money for proper materials to build with. This was why more damage was done. Also the Kashmir Government didn’t have money and resources so people died of famine, thirst, disease and were stuck under the buildings. The lack of money also meant that they were not able to repair everything. It took a very long time for the government to acquire the money needed.
Kobe was ready for the earthquake in some ways. The newly built Kansai International Airport and Akashi Bridge were built to withstand earthquakes and they successfully did saving many, many lives. This also saved a lot of money from not needing to rebuild it. Kobe’s Infrastructure was repaired and its’ services were running in six months whilst the Kashmir are still struggling with the earthquake’s damages. I believe this was because Kobe had the money to repair everything immediate and properly. And also this could be because most things were built in Kobe with proper materials and properly. They also introduced high-tech, sophisticated materials for new buildings.
The Kashmir had no food, water, and clothing to offer to the people so they died as a result of this. Many people were poor already and had very few belongings, but now everything was lost.
Kobe’s government had the resources to offer to the people immediately but there was a short delay due to the disrupted transport and blocked roads.
I think that the richer a country is, the less it will be affected and the less it will struggle the aftermath of the earthquake. This is because it will have more resources and the buildings would have been built with new sophisticated materials to withstand earthquakes and hurricanes. Poorer countries would have less money for repair, buildings made of cheap materials and less resources (medical supplies, food, water, helicopters).
