Kobe, Japan locale scale of place in hazardous area

Question 1

when did a big earthquake devastate Kobe?

Answer 1

17th January 1995

Question 2

what magnitude was the earthquake?

Answer 2

6.8

Question 3

what is the earthquake known as and where was the epicenter?

Answer 3

the great Hanshin earthquake
epicenter 20km from central parts of the city

Question 4

what was the total economic damage of the event?

Answer 4

$100 billion

Question 5

how many killed and injured?

Answer 5

over 6,000 killed
over 35,000 injured

Question 6

why did lots of people face financial ruin?

Answer 6

as only 3% of the nations buildings were insured and many were destroyed

Question 7

what struck Kobe six months after the earthquake event?

Answer 7

a typhoon

Question 8

how well did people feel Japan was prepared and what did some think about this?

Answer 8

Japanese felt well prepared for earthquakes given research and wealth which meant money was spent on forms of risk management but some thought there was an illusion of preparedness and the event caught them unaware of the severity

Question 9

what type of houses were there and why was this bad?

Answer 9

many old houses with heavy tiles on the roof (to withstand typhoons) but they killed people when supports collapsed.

Question 10

how long had it been since Kobe had an earthquake and what had authorities not done?

Answer 10

hadn’t experienced one in 400 years and authorities had no maintained sufficient emergency supplies

Question 11

what did the authorities point out about the response from Japan?

Answer 11

they made people more vulnerable by being slow to react to scale of earthquake and not encouraging enough community volunteers and refusing offers of help from foreign governments

Question 12

what was the total cost of reconstruction for Kobe?

Answer 12

$10 billion

Question 13

what had the city achieved within a short time after the disaster?

Answer 13

• electric power, gas, water, telecommunications and major roads and rail links were restored within months
• within several months 48,000 housing units supplied to care for homeless (20% of pop after event)
• 70% of the port operations were restored within one year
• nearly all debris was removed within a short time with 60% of it reused in landfill sites
• 15 months after manufacturing output was back to 96% of what it was before event

Question 14

what document did the Japanese government issue after the earthquake?

Answer 14

a policy towards disaster stricken areas entitled ‘disaster management in Japan’

Question 15

after the earthquake what did the government put in place and why?

Answer 15

new measures for a more rapid and effective response

Question 16

what has the city council indicated will happen to all older buildings?

Answer 16

old buildings not meeting modern seismic standards will be retrofitted

Question 17

how were houses damaged after the earthquake and what are the city doing about it?

Answer 17

lots of houses were damaged from fires so the council promised to explore sources for extinguishing future fires including rivers and sea

Question 18

what backup system was put in place wherever possible?

Answer 18

constructed a duplicate fibre optic system and other backups are in place

Question 19

what did the city council do within the local communities?

Answer 19

stockpile resources and train people to fight fires and improve availability of basic tools for search and rescue

Question 20

what has been done regarding national governmental organisations?

Answer 20

the city council has tried to promote them as they seemed more flexible during the event compared to official bodies

Question 21

what physical disaster resistant measures have been put in place?

Answer 21

• firebreaks to be established along rivers and roadways
• mountain greenbelt to reduce landslides
• canal system for reliable water system and backup systems for hospitals