Philippines plate
shifted underneath
Eurasian plate
along Nojima fault
line beneath Kobe
10 million people affected
7.2 richter scale, 20s tremors
6434 dead, over 40,000 seriously injured,
180,000 houses, 300,000 homeless
Why?
Philippines plate moves towards Eurasian
plate and is forced down as is oceanic
Plates jam together and pressure builds up
Pressure is suddenly released and plates jerk forwards
(During the earthquake the ground moved up to
50cm horizontaly and up to 1m vertically)
Effects
Primary
180,000
buildings
collapsed
Sections of elevated road collapsed
Bridges collapsed
Railway lines wrecked
At the port,
cranes fell and
120/150 quays
were
destroyed
Secondary
2 million
homes
without
electricity
1 million
without
water for
10 days
Fires from
gas pipes
and
electricity
cables
(damage to
roads and
water
supply
sometimes
meant
impossible
to put out
fires)
Gridlocked
roads
delayed
ambulances
and fire
engines
230,000
homeless in
temporary
shelters with
a shortage
of blankets,
clean water
and food
Afraid to
return home
as 74-716
recorded
aftershocks
could be
felt
$220
billion
Severe
damage
to
industry
Older buildings collapsed but the 'high
tech' and "withstanding earthquake
construction" Konsair international airport
and Akashi bridge were undamaged
Responses
Short term:
Friends
and
neighbours
searched
rubble for
survivors
200 fires
still
burning
under
control
24hrs later
Nothing
moved
in or out
of Kobe
by
road/rail
for 3
days
Hospitals
struggled
to cope
with the
many
injured
Major retailers such as 7-eleven helped to
provide essentials and Motorola provided
telephone connections free
300,000 homeless given shelter in -2 degrees
Long term:
Railways
took a
long time
to open
again
Ports took even longer (80% in 1 year)
New laws passed to make buildings and transport more earthquake-proof (further
apart, flexible steel frames, houses made from fire resistance materials etc)
Increase in use of seismic instruments
Earthquake
drills
annually
By July water,
electricity, gas
and telephone
were fully working
4 years later,
134,000 housing
units constructed but
some still living in
temporary housing