Kobe earthquake Flashcards
1
Q
Nature of seismic hazard
A
- Philippine subducting under Eurasian plate, reactivated Nojima fault line running through Kobe
- Subterranean fault line ruptured under city
- 7.2 magnitude
- 20 seconds where there was solid rock
- Country sits on boundaries of 4 tectonic plates
2
Q
Case study
A
GDP per Capita - 42,522.07 USD GDP - 5.334 trillion USD Life Expectancy - 79.54 HDI - 0.941 Literacy rate - 99% DTM - Stage 4
3
Q
Where and when did it happen?
A
- 17th January 1995
- Kobe, south coast of Japan
- Hasn’t seen a major quake in 400 years
- Earthquake was 15km deep
- Just before dawn
4
Q
Primary social impacts
A
- over 6000 died, 35,000 injured
- many suffered from hypothermia as it was the winter
5
Q
Primary economic impacts
A
- Hanshin expressway collapsed, meant to withstand 8.1 earthquake.
- Older suburbs suffered extensive pancaking due to heavy typhoon proof roofs
- Companies were forced to close - Mitsubishi
- Kobe dock destroyed
6
Q
Primary environmental impacts
A
- Liquefaction in Osaka Bay, destroys kobe port
- Gas mains broke causing outbreak of fires
7
Q
Secondary political impacts
A
- Japanese government forced to introduce strategies
- Estimated cost to rebuild the basics = £100 billion.
8
Q
Secondary social impacts
A
- survivors in temporary accommodation
- railways ripped up from the ground
- Buildings collapse like pancakes causing 9/10 deaths in the earthquake
- Disruption to transport system
9
Q
Secondary economic impacts
A
- Port out of action for 3 months - reducing imports and exports trade for the area.
- no transport means no income for companies and japan
- Dock out of action for 2 years, affects trade
- 6.8 million dollars spent to rebuild port alone
10
Q
Secondary environmental impacts
A
- 700 aftershocks in days to follow
- fires broke out across the city
11
Q
Short term responses
A
- Thermal image equipment, listening equipment and sniffer dogs used to locate trapped bodies.
- Powerful equipment (Jaws of Life) lifts debris off survivors.
- Effective medical services treat the injured rapidly
- 3000 army troops sent to the area of Hanshin and older suburbs
12
Q
Long term responses
A
- Retro-engineering (Osaka bay tower), building spacing, rubber shock absorbers and reinforced steel rods added to Hanshin.
- Government emergency funds help rebuild roads, power supplies and buildings
- Home insurance means people can pay to rebuild their homes.
- Emergency services trained to know what to do in an earthquake
- Japan now has national hazard preparation day where residents are trained to survive earthquakes.
- Earthquake precautions were put in place to reduce such damage in the future
13
Q
Management
A
- Osaka Earthquake Observatory monitors earthquake
- Seismologists now monitoring area
