Great Hanshin Japan 1995 Earthquake

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Becoming the nation of the most prone to earthquake in the world, they could have as much as a thousand quakes each year. One of the most hazardous quakes in Japan was Japan 1995 earthquake or Kobe earthquake which happen on 17 January 1995.

On Japan’s 1995 earthquake, the power was 7.3 magnitude quake occurring in Kobe which was three hundred and fifty (350) kilometers or 210 miles south west of Tokyo. More than 6400 lives were dead and more than 30.000 were getting injured. Around 300.000 inhabitants were abandoned.

The hazards caused by earthquakes which were flames also burning cities as 70 of the US city block. The flames were scattered in 300 places just some minutes after the quake and triggered by leaked fuel pipes. Also, the water system was failed to turn the flames off.

The overall destruction was estimated around a hundred billion dollars ($100 billion). With power of 7.3 magnitude earthquake combined with shallow focus, this quake became the most hazardous moment which the sensor in other nations could measure it. The focus of this quake was actually only 20 kilometers in depth.

All the landscape in Kobe and Osaka were damaged. The deaths were mostly happened in Kobe, the most used port city in Japan. All of us could not believe that Japan that was an advanced country and capable of making such disaster preparation plan was down.

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The failure to counter on such disaster was originated on the cause of disaster itself. Japan was located on seismic zone. The nation was situated at some tectonic plates such as Okhotsk (also known as North American), Eurasia, Pacific and North American plates. The two oceanic plates which were North American and Pacific plates along with continental plates which was Eurasia plate were in line creating subduction zone.

That Japan 1995 Earthquake was Caused by Nojma Fault

Every year earthquakes happen in thousand times in Japan. Especially for the 1995 earthquake in Kobe, there had been two locked tectonic plates and this fault system was causing a hazardous quake such as 7.3 magnitude earthquake. The fault which was responsible for the earthquake was called Nojma fault. Kobe was the second biggest port city that was situated at the minor Nojma fault.

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The fault might be strike-slip as the tectonic movement was average tectonic. The recovery was running from the first month to following years after the quake. In the first month, the city port was restoring its energy facilities and running within a week after the quake. Almost 230.000 abandoned inhabitants were eventually being made for their own living places.

The economy was actually recovered and the ports have been rebuilt. There had been economic stimulus to make the economic climate running. Department stores, market, malls were rebuilt fewer than the previous number. The debris also had been removed year after the recovery.

The main port city of Kobe that was in the worst damage eventually recovered and gaining its prior activities after all the facilities were rebuilt but the amount of the activities were not as many as that before the quake. Many activities of malls, department stores, and markets were back to normal. However, the population was not the same as the ones before the Japan 1995 earthquake.

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