Kobe Earthquake Case Study

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  • Kobe -  Earthquake
    • Basic Facts
      • January 17th 1995
      • Kobe region of central Japan
    • Causes
      • 7.2 on the Richter Scale
      • It was at 5am, meaning people were not prepared
      • Destructive plate boundary
    • Responses
      • Long term
        • High-rise buildings built with flexible frames
        • New laws were passed to make buildings and transport structures even more earthquake proof
        • Instruments installed to monitor earthquake movements
        • $50 billion costs
        • New earthquake drills put in place
        • Rubber blocks put under bridges to absorb shocks
        • Ports active after a year
        • Building built further apart to prevent domino effect
      • Short Term
        • Emergency aid and rescue workers
        • people given emergency shelter in schools, town halls and parks
    • Effects
      • Primary effects
        • During the 20 second earthquake the ground moved up to 50cm horizontally and up to 1m vertically
        • The top deck of the Hanshin highway collapsed onto the bottom deck
        • Over 6,400 dead
        • Collapse of old wooden buildings, bridges and roads
      • Secondary effects
        • Congestion and chaos on the roads - damage to all types of transport including trains
        • Closure of businesses. Industry on the port was also badly affected
        • Problems made worse by the large numbers of aftershocks
        • Fires that broke out all over the city of Kobe because of broken gas pipes and electric lines
          • Many more people died in the fires

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