The Kobe Earthquake

From: http://hvg.heinemann.co.uk/login.aspx. Two reports on the very destructive earthquake in Kobe, Japan in 1995: 1. the immediate aftermath: fires have destroyed almost all of Kobe; survivors search for lost family members and anything worth salvaging; some are angry that the authorities have not yet helped; food is running short and people are starting to hoard supplies; the emergency services are struggling to cope; there is much criticism of the emergency services; senior officials admit that the rescue effort has been badly handled; older building lacked earthquake protection and collapsed immediately but new buildings stand intact; the search for bodies has now stopped; 2. five years later: the survivors of the Kobe earthquake light candles in commemoration of the dead; the people will never forget the earthquake; an Eternal flame is lit at the exact time of the earthquake; much of the city has been rebuilt in the five years but there is still a sense of loss.

Category:

Education

Tags:

• Kobe
• Disaster
• Earthquake
• education
• school
• assembly

[peachy871]

The amount of destruction also has to do with how at what depth in the ground the quake occurs. It might have been a 7.2 but it was 16 km deep...which is pretty darn close to the surface.

[chucknorrisownsall]

Magnitude really doesn't depend on the actual shaking strength itself. It depends more on how much area it covers, and how long it lasts, and the frequency of the waves. Ground acceleration and the horizontal motion are what caused a lot of damage. The ground acceleration was really high (probably comparable to an 8.1 or higher) and horizontal waves are lot more deadly than up and down waves and there was mainly horizontal motion.

[ogschizo]

Liquifaction is why Kobe was so hit hard, the city was built on an ancient lake bed.

[herunarivelice]

7.2 isn't pretty big. Some earthquakes could reach 9 on the Richter scale, which is approximately 700 times more powerful than 7.2. The reason it's destructive it's because it struck a very densely populated area.

[ustolemysoul]

Doing a geography project on this earthquake at the moment :S For anyone who wants to know this earthquake measured 7.2 on the richter scale :O pretty big

[bunnygirl178]

odd....japan is my fav. place, but i din't know about this earthquake......wierd

[bunnygirl178]

really odd...japan is earthqauke my fav. place , but i din't even know about this earthquake!

[12Ang122]

Wow this is just crazy.