The restless earth - Earthquake in a rich region - Kobe, Japan (case study)

Question 1

what year did the earthquake happen?

Answer 1

1995

Question 2

what is Kobe situated on?

Answer 2

a fault (line of weakness) on a destructive plate margin

Question 3

what were the 3 tectonic plates doing?

Answer 3

moving towards each other due to convection currents in the molten mantle below

Question 4

what is the heavy oceanic crust?

Answer 4

the Philippines plate

Question 5

what is the light continental crust?

Answer 5

the Eurasian plate

Question 6

what did the earthquake measure on the Richter scale?

Answer 6

7.2

Question 7

how long did the ground shake for when the seismic waves were released?

Answer 7

20 seconds

Question 8

where was the earthquake shaking worse?

Answer 8

30Km south of Kobe on Awaji Island

Question 9

Primary effects - how many buildings collapsed?

Answer 9

67 000

Question 10

Primary effects - what percentage of schools collapsed?

Answer 10

85%

Question 11

Primary effects - how many deaths and injuries?

Answer 11

thousands

Question 12

Primary effects - at what time did it happen?

Answer 12

5.46 in the morning

Question 13

Primary effects - how many people did it leave homeless?

Answer 13

300 000

Question 14

Primary effects - what did the shaking do to the Hanshin Expressway?

Answer 14

to collapse

Question 15

secondary effects - how many fires were started?

Answer 15

175

Question 16

secondary effects - why were the fires started?

Answer 16

sparks from broken electricity cables ignited leaks from the damaged gas mains

Question 17

secondary effects - how many more deaths were caused due to the fires?

Answer 17

6000 deaths

Question 18

secondary effects - how many injuries were caused due to the fires?

Answer 18

14 000 injuries

Question 19

secondary effects - what happened amongst the elderly?

Answer 19

illness and further deaths

Question 20

secondary effects - where did people stay?

Answer 20

in unheated school halls or open parks in -2C

Question 21

secondary effects - how many aftershocks were there?

Answer 21

74

Question 22

immediate responses - what did the army and foreign rescue teams do?

Answer 22

dug out survivors and most areas were reached within 24 hours

Question 23

immediate responses - how many shelters were set up in schools for the 300 000 homeless?

Answer 23

599 shelters

Question 24

immediate responses - how far did people walk to reach trains to move to relatives homes?

Answer 24

15Km

Question 25

immediate responses - what did the fire brigade do?

Answer 25

destroyed some buildings to stop spread of fires

Question 26

immediate responses - what happened to most of the roads?

Answer 26

most of the roads were cleared by the end of the week

Question 27

long term responses - what did Kobe City Restoration Plan do?

Answer 27

everything from rebuilding Kobe to helping traumatized children

Question 28

long term responses - what did the ‘Light up the city campaign do?

Answer 28

bought Blackpool-style illuminations to Kobe to help improve image and bring people back

Question 29

long term responses - what did the government do?

Answer 29

rebuilt port area and within 10 months the economy fully recovered

Question 30

long term responses - what has japan done in preparation?

Answer 30

spent $1 billion on systems and research to predict earthquakes - 1000 GPS monitors allow about 1 minute warning to settlements away from the epicentre - can save some lives