KOBE local multi hazard zone Flashcards
Date
17th Jan 1995 5:46am
Kobe population
10 million
Megacity
MEDC
Development?
MEDC
One of the largest container ports in the world
Tectonic context
4 tectonic plates
Sits on destructive plate boundary
Further from a plate margin than most of the cities in japan, kobe is still found on a fault line
At plate margin pacific plate being pushed under euraisan plate with stresses building up and releasing eqs subduction zone eq
Magnitude on richter scale
7.8 RS
6.8 MMS
Epicentre stat?
20km
Focus stats
16km below crust
Primary impacts
More than 500 died
300,000 homeless
102k buildings destroyed especially older wooden buildings
Centre of kobe worst affected due to liquefaction of ground allowing buildings to collapse and sink - this included main docks and port area built on the ground
Difficulties deploying emergency aid for the city as needed to use damaged roads with many of them having been destroyed during the eq
Raised motorways collapsed other roads limiting rescue attempts small roads closed by fallen debris from buildings or cracks and bumps caused by the ground moving
EQ occured in the morning with people cooking breakfast which caused over 300 fires and 2 days to put out
Secondary impacts
Estinated costs to rebuild the basis = $100bn
Fires brok out destorying traditional wooden buildings that survived the eq
How prepared was kobe for this hazardous event
Alot of buildings in japan and kobe made after 1960 were eq proof however many of the damaged buidlings in kobe were made before this
Factors contributing to the city’s vulnerability.
Kobe hadnt had an eq in 400 years and had less prediction equipment
Alot of buildings in japan and kobe made after 1960 were eq proof however many of the damaged buildings in kobe were made before this period
The japanese rejected international offers of aid and dealt with the eq itself
