Kobe

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Kobe

o   Kobe is in the South of Japan, on the main island of Honshu.  It is one of the main cities of Japan, twinned with Osaka which is just next to it.  It is on a destructive plate margin between the Eurasian Plate and the Philippine Plate that meet along the Nojima fault line.

o   During the earthquake the ground moved 50cm horizontally and up to 1m vertically. The widespread devastation was caused by the focus being close to the surface and the epicentre close to Kobe.

Primary effects:

©       The ground moved 50cm horizontally and up to 1m vertically

©       Nearly 200,000 buildings collapsed including the elevated Hanshin Expressway

©       The Bullet train route including 130 bridges along its course

©       In the port of Kobe 120 of the 150 quays were destroyed

©       The injured reached 40,000

©       Homes destroyed 180,000

©       The Kansai airport and Akashi bridge were both undamaged due to their aseismic design

©       The top deck of the Hanshin highway collapsed onto the bottom deck.  1.5 km collapsed

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