MDC Earthquake (Kobe, Japan)

Question 1

Where

Answer 1

Kobe, Japan

Question 2

WHen

Answer 2

17th January 1995

Question 3

What plates

Answer 3

The Philippines Plate shifted uneasily beneath the Eurasian Plate along the Nojima fault line that runs beneath Kobe

Question 4

How large

Answer 4

7.2 on richter scale

Question 5

Length of tremors

Answer 5

20 seconds

Question 6

People killed

Answer 6

6434 people (4600 were Kobe residents)

Question 7

People seriously injured

Answer 7

40,000

Question 8

People made homeless

Answer 8

300,000

Question 9

Damage to city

Answer 9

Major damage to infrastructure 
Gas mains ruptured 
Water pipes fractured 
Sections of elevated roads collapsed 
Railway lines buckled

Question 10

Road statistic

Answer 10

Only 30% of the Osaka to Kobe tracks were usable

Question 11

Homes

Answer 11

One million had to cope without water for 10 days

Two million had no electricity

Question 12

Fire damage

Answer 12

Fire spread especially to the west of the port

Question 13

Initial response by victims

Answer 13

People huddles in blankets on the streets and in tented shelters in parks in dear of returning to buildings damaged by the earthquake

Question 14

Expense of damage

Answer 14

$220 million and economy suffered

Question 15

Companies

Answer 15

Companies such as Panasonic had to close temporarily

Question 16

Immediate response

Answer 16

Friends and neighbours searched through rubble for survivors
When access was possible, emergency services joined

Question 17

Hospitals

Answer 17

Struggled to cope with the massive demand

Operations in corridors

Question 18

Retailers aid

Answer 18

7-eleven helped to provide essentials

Motorola maintained telephone connections free of charge

Question 19

Within a month

Answer 19

Railways were 80% operational

Question 20

By July

Answer 20

Road network was operational

Question 21

By September

Answer 21

Hanshin Expressway was fully open again

Question 22

A year later

Answer 22

Port was 80% operational but much of the container shipping business had been lost

Question 23

Why did some buildings survive

Answer 23

They were built to a 1981 code whereas those built to the 1960s practise collapsed

Question 24

New buildings

Answer 24

Built further apart to prevent dominos effect
High rise have flexible steel frames
Some built with concrete and steel frames
Rubber blocks put under bridges to absorb shocks