1995 Kobe earthquake

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Kobe earthquake
1995 Kobe earthquake (Japan)
Bullseye1.svg
date January 17, 1995
Time 05:46:52 am
intensity 7th 
Magnitude 7.2  M W
epicenter 34 ° 35 '54 "  N , 135 ° 2' 6"  E Coordinates: 34 ° 35 '54 "  N , 135 ° 2' 6"  E
country Japan
Tsunami No
dead 4,571 people
Injured around 14,700 people
damage about $ 100 billion
Destruction in Kobe (store of Topos discounter)
The damage caused by the earthquake was not repaired at the Earthquake Memorial Park near the port of Kobe.

The earthquake in Kobe ( Jap. 阪神·淡路大震災 Hanshin Awaji daishinsai , dt. " Hanshin - Awaji -Erdbebenkatastrophe"), official name "South Hyogo -Erdbeben" ( 兵庫南部地震 Hyōgo nambu jishin ), took place on January 17 1995. The quake of the Nojima fault from Awaji to Mount Rokkō began at 05:46:52 local time, lasted about 20 seconds and reached a magnitude of 7.3 according to the Japanese (local quake) magnitude scale M j (according to the old Definition up to 2003), or M w  7.2 on the moment magnitude scale . It was the first quake to reach the highest possible level of 7 on the JMA scale introduced in 1949 , an intensity scale . Its epicenter was about 20 km southwest of the city center of Kobe in the Strait of Akashi , the hypocenter was at a depth of 16 km.

Victims and damage

4,571 people died and around 14,700 were injured as a result of the earthquake and its aftermath; the number of elderly citizens and women was above average among the dead. 300,000 people became homeless as a result of the earthquake , many of them only after the more than 300 fires triggered by the quake. After a particularly dry summer, the city's cisterns had not been filled with extinguishing water, so that the fire brigade had to watch most of the fires without doing anything.

61,000 buildings were completely destroyed, 7,300 burned down and 55,000 were damaged on a large scale.

The Hanshin Highway , which runs on stilts through the Kobe Ōsaka area, collapsed over a length of about five kilometers. Numerous other buildings that were considered safe did not withstand the quake either. The collapse on the ground floor or on a middle floor was typical.

At the time of the earthquake, offices and companies were unoccupied, shops and streets were empty, and road and rail traffic was still almost at rest. At any other time of day, the number of victims would have been many times higher.

Access to and approaches to the port were destroyed and port facilities were badly damaged.

The total amount of all damage caused by the earthquake is estimated at about $ 100 billion.

Criticism of the crisis management

Government agencies have been heavily criticized at home and abroad for numerous failures. Urgently needed goods such as food, water and blankets were not transported to the crisis area for days, and later only inadequately; Emergency shelter not provided by the state. A large part of the unemployed and left to themselves population clogged the few passable streets with cars. B. to Osaka to buy essentials for yourself and your neighbors.

The downside of the Japanese organization emerged: a lack of initiative turned the police and groups of soldiers who were summoned later into inactive extras. Efficient traffic management, for example on the main axis, Route # 2, was not organized until five days after the quake. The tragic individual fates of unsaved relatives left bitterness behind.

On the other hand, government agencies could hardly bring themselves to accept not only financial means but also active foreign aid. The headlines were made about the arrest of the Swiss avalanche rescue group with their dogs at Kansai Airport , which were kept out for days with quarantine regulations and finally led to free areas that had already been cleared of rubble. Solidarity from abroad, but above all a wave of voluntary relief efforts in the country, made up for some of the state's failures.

Subsequently, the disaster management was decisively improved by allowing the local fire brigades and the army to act more independently, so that the authorities reacted much more quickly to the Niigata earthquake in 2004.

  • South side of Tokyu Hands in Sannomiya

  • North side of Tokyu Hands

  • Hankyu Sannomiya Station

  • In the Hyogo district

  • Shop in Hyogo District

consequences

Commemoration in Kobe on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the earthquake

As a result of the tectonic shifts, the pillars of the Akashi Kaikyō Bridge , which was under construction at the time of the quake and now connects Honshū with Awaji Island, were pushed apart by almost a meter. The construction work could, however, continue without delays.

The Japanese Nikkei 225 stock index fell over a thousand points the day after the earthquake. This indirectly led to the end of Barings Bank , as its employee Nick Leeson had invested large sums in options on the Nikkei. The eventual losses of over $ 1.4 billion drove Barings Bank into bankruptcy .

The port of Kobe, formerly the world's busiest non-oil port, did not find its way back to its previous role after the destruction. The shoe industry and other manufacturing industries also lost substance over the long term.

In the course of the reconstruction, Kobe received a more modern infrastructure geared towards earthquake security and disaster management.

January 17th has become, especially in Kansai, the Day of Disaster Protection and Voluntary Aid (防災 と ボ ラ ン テ ィ ア の 日, Bōsai to Borantia no Hi ) (in addition to the Day of Disaster Protection on September 1st).

In memory of the victims, the Kobe Luminarie Festival of Lights is held every December in Kobe .

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f Fundamente - Geographie Oberstufe p. 401; Klett, 2008 ISBN 978-3-623-29260-1
  2. ^ Burritt Sabin: The Great Hanshin Earthquake: Lessons for Niigata. In: J @ pan Inc Newsletter No. 295 (JIN-295). October 31, 2004, accessed July 8, 2015 .

Web links

Commons : Kobe Earthquake 1995  - Collection of images, videos and audio files