[20] Hyōgo's prefectural government invested millions of yen in the following years to build earthquake-proof shelters and supplies in public parks.[21]. The earthquake hit at 5:46 am on Tuesday, Jan. 17, 1995, in the southern part of Hyōgo prefecture, west-central Honshu. In the scientific literature it is often called the 1995 Southern Hyōgo Prefecture Earthquake (平成7年(1995年)兵庫県南部地震, Heisei 7 nen (1995 nen) Hyōgo-ken Nanbu Jishin), the name chosen by the Japan Meteorological Agency in the week after the main shock. Shortly after the Kobe earthquake, we started collecting ground-water samples from Kobe in order to investigate possible changes in ground water. A total of 6,434 people, mainly in the city of Kobe, lost their lives. This was Japan's worst earthquake in the 20th century after the Great Kantō earthquake in 1923, which claimed more than 105,000 lives. An emergency transportation network was also devised, and evacuation centres and shelters were set up in Kōbe by the Hyōgo prefectural government. It measured 6.9 on the moment magnitude scale and had a maximum intensity of 7 on the JMA Seismic Intensity Scale (X on the Modified Mercalli Intensity Scale). Structures irreparably damaged by the quake included nearly 400,000 buildings,[3][13] numerous elevated road and rail bridges, and 120 of the 150 quays in the port of Kobe. This financial damage was the immediate cause for the collapse of Barings Bank due to the actions of Nick Leeson, who had speculated vast amounts of money on Japanese and Singaporean derivatives. 1 thoughts on “ Focus and epicenter diagram ” Sfc B. It lasted for 20 seconds. The Great Hanshin earthquake (阪神・淡路大震災, Hanshin Awaji daishinsai), or Kobe earthquake, occurred on January 17, 1995 at 05:46:53 JST (January 16 at 20:46:53 UTC) in the southern part of Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, including the region known as Hanshin. Kobe is Japan's 6th largest city with the world's 6th largest port. The Meishin Expressway was only lightly damaged, but was closed during the day until February 17, 1995 so that emergency vehicles could easily access the hardest-hit areas to the west. [14] Disruptions of water, electricity and gas supplies were common. …1995, following the January 17 Kōbe earthquake that devastated the Kōbe area in west-central Japan. [17] Even though less than half the port facilities had been rebuilt by that stage, within a year import volumes through the port had recovered fully and export volumes were nearly back to where they would have been without the disaster. More than 102,000 buildings were destroyed in Kobe, leaving over a fifth of the city population, some 300,000 people homeless. • According … [8] Earthquakes of this type occur along active faults. The railways rebounded quickly after the quake, reaching 80% operability in one month. What happened to the Awaji island? [7], The Great Hanshin earthquake belonged to a third type, called an "inland shallow earthquake". The Kobe, or Great Hanshin, earthquake struck in the pre-dawn hours of January 17, 1995, with a magnitude of 7.3 near the city of Kobe, about 350 km (210 miles) southwest of Tokyo. The Kobe quake itself was more than 300 kilometres from a network of instruments scrutinising Japan’s most active tectonic area, near Tokyo. Learn how and when to remove this template message, "Japan remembers more than 6,400 victims of Kobe earthquake after 22 years", "A fault model of the 1995 Kobe earthquake derived from the GPS data on the Akashi Kaikyo Bridge and other datasets", Hunt for tsunami orphans hampered, unprecedented, "The Great Hanshin Earthquake: Lessons for Niigata", "Restoration from the earthquake disaster – City planning based on the lessons learned from the disaster", "Earthquake Readiness: From Underground Stores to Satellite Monitoring", Great Hanshin Earthquake and the destruction of the infrastructure, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, The Medical and Public Health Response to the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake in Japan: A Case Study in Disaster Planning, Are People Insured Against Natural Disasters? Many of the city’s residents had been unaware of the chances of an earthquake taking place.The epicentre of the earthquake was located on the island of Awaji at 34.6 N 135.0 E. The earthquake had taken place because of a subduction zone on the plate margin. The earthquake was notable for exposing the vulnerability of the infrastructure. Most of the older traditional houses had heavy tiled roofs which weighed around two tons, intended to resist the frequent typhoons plaguing Kobe, but they were only supported by a light wooden frame. An on-the spot investigation by JMA concluded that tremors by this earthquake were at seismic intensity of Level 7 in particular areas in northern Awaji Island (now Awaji City) and in the cities of Kobe, Ashiya, Nishinomiya and Takarazuka. The newly-completed artificial island supporting Kansai International Airport was not significantly affected, due to being further from the epicenter, and because it was built to the latest standards. attershock zone, ami peak „ , . Due to its proximity, it was the worst affected Japanese city. Its estimated death toll of 6,400 made it the worst earthquake to hit Japan since the Tokyo-Yokohama (Great Kantō) earthquake of 1923, which had killed more than 140,000. "QUAKE IN JAPAN: GANGSTERS; Gang in Kobe Organizes Aid for People In Quake" – via NYTimes.com. The earthquake's destructiveness was due to its relatively shallow depth rather than magnitude, seismologists said yesterday. For the first time in 4 centuries, a massive earthquake has struck the Kobe area. Approximately 1.2 million volunteers were involved in relief efforts during the first three months following the earthquake. It is called the “Kobe earthquake”, not because the epicentre of the earthquake was in the Japanese city of Kobe but because Kobe was very much hit the hardest. It measured 6.9 on the moment magnitude scale and had a maximum intensity of 7 on the JMA Seismic Intensity Scale (X on the Modified Mercalli Intensity Scale). The • The city of Kobe, with a population of 1.5 million, was the closest to the epicentre. After recalculating the seismic design criteria required for a nuclear power plant to survive near the epicentre of a large earthquake the NSC concluded that under current guidelines such a plant could survive a quake of magnitude 7.75 (cf Kobe 7.2). I thought the epicentre was directly above the focus, which would've been under Kobe. whilst many of its citizens were still asleep, the Japanese city of Kobe was hit by largest earthquake in Japan since 1923. It was the first time that an earthquake in Japan was officially measured at a seismic intensity (shindo in Japanese) of the highest Level 7 on the scale of Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA). The year 1995 is often regarded as a turning point in the emergence of volunteerism as a major form of civic engagement. Residents feared returning home because of aftershocks that lasted several days (74 of which were strong enough to be felt). Start studying Geography GCSE Kobe and Sichuan Earthquake Case Study. The Ground Self-Defense Forces were given automatic authority to respond to earthquakes over a certain magnitude, which allowed them to deploy to the Niigata region within minutes. Kobe, less than 15 miles from the epicenter, is a port city four or five miles wide and about 18 miles long and has a population of 1.5 million. [19], In response to the widespread damage to transportation infrastructure, and the resulting effect on emergency response times in the disaster area, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport began designating special disaster prevention routes and reinforcing the roads and surrounding buildings so as to keep them as intact as possible in the event of another earthquake. It lasted about 20 seconds and registered as a magnitude 6.9 (7.3 on the Richter scale). The tremors lasted for approximately 20 seconds. It was caused by a strike-slip jolt (sudden lateral movement of one rock mass against another) on the Nojima Fault, which up until then was not considered a dangerous fault. Hanshin refers to the region between Osaka and Kobe. The quake ravaged many of the facilities of what was then the world's sixth-largest container port and the source of nearly 40% of Kobe's industrial output. It was the worst earthquake in Japan since the Great Kantō earthquake in 1923, which claimed 140,000 lives. This article was most recently revised and updated by, https://www.britannica.com/event/Kobe-earthquake-of-1995, Tokyo-Yokohama (Great Kantō) earthquake of 1923. Kobe is Japan's 6th largest city with the world's 6th largest port. People were forced to wait in corridors due to the overcrowding and lack of space. Failure of most structures and wrecks electricity and water supplies for the first in... Plate and the inadequacy of national route 28 above it the elevated 's... 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