18. Local Scale Hazard: Kobe

Question 1

Why does Kobe’s geographical location make it vulnerable to hazards?

Answer 1

• Much of city is located on a narrow coastal plain hemmed in by the Rokko mountains -> leads to high population densities alone coastline
• Crowded infrastructure
• Located on Eurasian and Philippine plates
• 30% of Japan’s commercial shipping in 1990
• Sat on fault lines
• Half of area built on reclaimed land - area shook for 2 mins even though quake lasted 20 secs

Question 2

How did Kobe’s local character influence the severity of impacts of the Great Hanshin Earthquake?

Answer 2

• A lot of houses made of wood so vulnerable to fires
• Many houses had heavy tiles on roof to withstand typhoons but tiles injured and killed many people when supports collapsed
• It was suggested that as Kobe hadn’t experienced a serious earthquake in 400 yrs, the people and authorities hadn’t maintained sufficient emergency supplies
• Highways built on stilts but hadn’t been tested
• Many houses hadn’t been retrofitted
• According to 1981 codes, buildings not exceeding a height of 31m were designed elastically to withstand moderate earthquakes

Question 3

How did Kobe’s local character affect the response to the Great Hanshin Earthquake?

Answer 3

• Local council criticised for not being prepared enough
• Now seen as a blueprint for other countries
• There was an illusion of preparedness
• Government were slow to react/ poorly managed
• 70% of port operations restored within 1 yr
• £95 bn spent on reconstruction
• Fires caused widespread damage with emergency services unable to reach the affected areas of the city quickly as freeway + major roads damaged
• Had to request assistance for SDF in in event of emergency -> at time had a socialist prime minister who was reserved at calling the SDF in -> 4 days before a build up of the emergency rescue people from outside
• The Yakuza (Japanse gangstas) were amongst the 1st on the scene offering assistance
• Problem with where to put temp housing as Ministry of Finance wasn’t buying private land for this purpose so it had to be on government land

Question 4

In what ways has Kobe’s character altered due to its hazardous setting and how sustainable are these changes likely to be?

Answer 4

• Before the earthquake, people were complacent
• They have retrofitted a lot of buildings
• Put in more fire breaks in forest
• Implemented awareness and education programmes to better inform the community
• Provided structural engineers with more valuable info than any previous earthquake
• Clear protocols on how one local government area could call on police, ambulances and fire brigades from adjoining and local districts