Earthquakes In Kobe
...ctually liquefied and acted like a thick soup, allowing buildings to topple sideways, resulting in the huge cranes in the harbour toppling over into the sea. Access to the sites of earthquakes is always likely to be restricted by the damage caused by the quake, because ground movements damage roads and railways. Some 75,000 buildings were damaged or destroyed during the earthquake and its aftershocks. Road and rail links were damaged, making it difficult for fire engines and ambulances to reach the worst affected parts of the city. Gas and water supplies were cut off, as were telecommunications links. Nearly 6,000 people were killed, with another 26,000 injured. 310,000 people were made homeless. The cost of repairing the damage was put at £60 billion. Most deaths happened in the old residential areas where buildings had been constructed before the introduction of designs to help withstand earthquakes. Many of the oldest buildings were wooden and caught fire very quickly. Hundreds of thousands of people had then been travelling with trains, busses and cars. On 17 January 1995 at 5:46 a.m. a strong earthquake of 7.2 on the Richter scale devastated the region of Kobe-Osaka, which is one of the most densely populated areas in Japan. It was called "The Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake" and brought about unprecedented damage. Its epicentre was at the Awaji Island close to Kobe. It was caused by an active fault running along Kobe's urban area, which led to the destruction of practically the entire area. The number of fatalities surpassed 5,000. Nearly 35,000 people were injured. The quake and the fires destroyed more than 100,000 buildings in its outcome. These figures include 38,321 completely collapsed, 48,546 partially collapsed, 14,081 partially damaged and 5,864 burned down houses. More than 300,000 people were displaced out of their homes. Long portions of the Hansin Expressway, which links Kobe and Osaka interconnecting much of the region surrounding Osaka Bay, collapsed. There were severe damages to lifelines utilities giving suspension of water supply, electricity, gas and telephone. On the day of the earthquake, 136 fires broke out from the debris of collapsed houses and old wooden houses. Due to lack of water and the interruption of the transportation access the fire service was not effective in putting out the fires. The fires spread over large areas. Fires continued to break out. After a week 414 and after a month 531 fires had been reported. The government applied the disaster relief law. Rescue activities were implemented in 10 cities and 10 towns in Hyogo prefecture and 5 cities in Osaka prefecture. As much as 29,000 personnel from Self Defence Forces took part in the activities. Fire Defence Agency dispatched 83 rescue teams, 110 fire brigades and 65 other teams. 27,000 policemen were mobilized. Most of the hospitals in Kobe could not provide qualified medical care due to lack of water and electricity. As the telephone communication did not function there was no co-ordination of the resources. In adjacent cities the staff of hospitals stood ready to take care of injured people from Kobe but only a few patients arrived. Mr Endo didn’t die because he visited his son on the evening of 16th January and spent the night there, whilst Mrs Endo stayed home. Kazou (Mr and Mrs Endo’s son) lived in an apartment in central Kobe. Central Kobe was further away from the epicentre of the earthquake. Most of the buildings in Central Kobe had been made to withstand earthquakes, since 1981 houses have been built to be earthquake proof. The Endo’s house was made before 1960. The Endo house had a roof made out of heavy concrete tiles these probably fell on Mrs Endo. Buildings in central Kobe have structures that are computer controlled and adjust to earth movements, this is because Japan is the most technologically advanced country in the world. Mrs Endo died of suffocation after 36 hours underneath rubble of the old house. Volunteers dug with their bare hands to search for their victims. Kazou and his friends eventually found Mrs Endo’s body at 1.20pm on 19th January. More than 600 aftershocks followed the earthquake. Like most cities, services like water, gas, electricity and sewerage were provided through a network of underground pipes and cables. When the ground began to move, the more rigid pipes weren't able to move as well so they fractured. Almost three quarters of the water supply across the entire city was out of action, gas pipes leaked gas into the air, and sewers discharged their contents into the streets. Fires raged out of control due to the water supply being out. The Kobe earthquake was also known as the great Hanshin-Awaji. The famous high-speed railway link from the Japan’s capital, Tokyo, and th...