Kobe earthquake
Occurred on January 17, 1995.
Magnitude: 7.2 on Richter scale
Hit South-Central Japan
Caused by liquefaction that led to ground shaking and thus, collapsing of buildings.
Effects:
· 4000 over deaths
· One in five of the buildings in the worst-hit area were completely destroyed (or rendered uninhabitable).
· About 22% of the offices in the central business district were rendered unusable and over half of the houses in that area were deemed unfit to live in.
· damage to highways and subways
· Most railways in the region were also damaged
· Port damaged therefore, business lost. Impact on economy.
Mitigation:
· water, electricity, gas, telephone services were fully working by July 1995
· The railways were back in service by August 1995
· A year after the earthquake, 80% of the port was working but the Hanshin Expressway was still closed.
· By January 1999, 134,000 housing units had been constructed but some people were still having to live in temporary accommodation.
- New laws were passed to make buildings and transport structures even more earthquake proof.
-More instruments were installed in the area to monitor earthquake movements.
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