Why did so many people die in the Kobe earthquake?

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Introduction. 1

Where, when and why? 2

The primary and secondary effects. 4

How well prepared the Japanese were. 6

How well people coped with the disaster. 7

How the authorities put things right. 8

Overall conclusion. 9

As a class we have been asked to investigate "Why did so many people die in the Kobe earthquake?" In this project I will be covering:

.Where, when and why the earthquake happened and which plates were involved.

2.What the primary and secondary effects were.

3.How well prepared the Japanese people were for the earthquake.

4.How well people coped with the disaster.

5.How the Japanese authorities put thing's right afterwards.

To do this I will be using my class work and searching the internet to help find pictures, diagrams and useful resources.

Where?

The earthquake happened in Kobe, in Japan, which is towards the south of the island, underlined in red on the map below. Kobe is situated on flat land between high mountains and the sea. It is an important route centre because it has motorway (Hanshin Expressway) and intercity ('bullet train') railway lines passing through it and a large modern port, which handles millions of tonnes of trade each year.

When?

At 5:46am (while many citizens were still asleep) on the 17th of January, 1995 the huge earthquake struck measuring 7.2 on the Richter scale. It was Japans largest earthquake since the one that hit Tokyo in 1923! Seismic waves (travelling waves of energy) moved towards the surface and disturbed buildings, roads, bridges, sewage systems and main supplies of water, electricity and gas.
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Why?

The earthquake happened because the Eurasian, Philippine Sea and Pacific tectonic plates (sections of the earth's crust which float on mantle) were all moving towards each other, which created friction when they gradually met at the plate boundaries. This made lots of pressure build up, then suddenly part of the plates gave way causing huge energy waves to be released and spread from the focus point (the place where it gave way) up towards the epicentre (the point at ground level, directly above the focus), which was Awaji. An island just south of Kobe.

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