| Case Name |
The Hanshin Awaji Great Earthquake (Hyogo Prefecture Southward Earthquake) |
| Pictograph |
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| Date |
January 17, 1995 |
| Place |
Hanshin and Awaji district |
| Location |
The place which suffered the biggest damages was the area which a registered seismic intensity of 7 and called "the band of the earthquake disaster", which covers from Kobe City to Nishinomiya City. |
| Overview |
The earthquake which attacked the city early in the morning brought about great damage, such as the collapse and burning of buildings in Hanshin and Awaji region, and the large number of casualties and victims. Since a great number of fundamental infrastructures such as expressway, railway, harbor and lifeline was damaged, and the city function was paralyzed for a long time. Especially, a large number of casualties was caused by the collapse of houses, and the fire, which started just after the earthquake, increased the disaster, and it became the largest earthquake in the postwar era. |
| Incident |
Early in the morning on 17th January 1995, the M7.3 earthquake whose hypocenter was below Akashi Channel occurred and brought the great damage to Hanshin Awaji district. Over 6400 people died and over 41500 people got injured, and the amount of the damage is estimated to be over 9600 billion yen. |
| Sequence |
There were foreshocks four times on 16th January 1995, the previous night of the earthquake. (M3.6, M2.5, M1.5, M2.1) At 5:46 on 17th January 1995, the M7.3 earthquake whose hypocenter was below Akashi Channel occurred. As the large earthquake occurred early in the morning, many people who were sleeping in their houses died due to the collapse of their houses and the turning over of furniture. Also, the people who did not die in spite of the collapse of the house could not escape since they were buried under the collapsed house, and many of them were killed by the fire. |
| Cause |
The general understanding had been like a superstition, which was "the large earthquake will not occur in Kansai area", before the Hyogo Prefecture Southward Earthquake occurred; Therefore, it can be said that the consciousness of disaster prevention in the whole of society was low and that the disaster prevention countermeasures were not advanced.
The biggest reason why many lives were clained by this earthquake is a collapse of houses which occurred just after the earthquake. Of about 5500 people who were killed by direct damage, 77% of them (4224 people) died from suffocation or traumatic asphyxiation, and 9.2% of them (504 people) died by fire and burn. |
| Response |
About 4 hours after the earthquake, "the emergency center of Hyogo Prefecture Southward Earthquake in 1995" led by the Director-General of the National Land Agency was established by the cabinet decision, and this center decided to carry out a precaution against aftershock, assessment of the damage, search and rescue operations for missing people, aid measure for the disaster victims, initial-stage extinction, early emergency rehabilitation of the damaged facilities such as roads, railways and lifeline utilities. Just after the earthquake, the correspondence in all the fields were examined and were carried out by the Government, fire fighting organizations, each institute, etc. |
| Countermeasures |
As the restoration and reconstruction measures, various countermeasure were taken, which were price stabilization measures, emergency rehabilitation, assessment and restoration of the damaged lifeline facilities, execution of the disaster garbage disposal, support for small and medium enterprises, securement of employment for the victims, development and improvement of the system, etc. There are many countermeasures which had been progressing untill 2004. |
| Knowledge Comment |
The most important thing as a lesson for the general public is to protect the life of yourself and your close ones by yourself since there is no lifesaver just after a big earthquake. It is necessary to image the situation in a earthquake and to take countermeasures before the earthquake occurs. As a lesson for all the people who participate in the infrastructure investment, it can be said that to leave the existing structures which do not meet the standard can be a crime of omission by the advance on the seismic engineering technology. In addition, you cannot say that it is safe "absolutely" even if the big earthquake occurs. In the engineering, the attitude to face Nature humbly is important, and it is a duty of the specialists to enlighten the general public so that they would not think that "the danger past and God forgotten." |
| Background |
The general recognition was "the earthquake will not occur in the Kansai district." Actually, it was described that "if an earthquake occurs, it will bring great damage" in the newspaper in previous decades, but this had been forgotten among the general public. There are some problems in that the countermeasures have not been taken, even though certain issued remained, such as the problem of crowded city blocks of wooden dwellings. |
| Scenario |
| Primary Scenario
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Poor Value Perception, Poor Safety Awareness, Carelessness, Insufficient Precaution, Insufficient Analysis or Research, Insufficient Practice, Production, Hardware Production, Planning and Design, Poor Planning, Failure, Large-Scale Damage, Secondary Damage, External Damage, Damage to Society, Social Systems Failure, Bodily Harm, Injury, Bodily Harm, Death, Psychological Harm, Mental Trauma
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| Sources |
"The report of the Great Hanshin Earthquake -roundup edition-" (edited by Architectural Institute of Japan, 2003)
"Dictionary of the earthquake disaster prevention" (Tsuneo Okada and Kenzo Toki, 2000)
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| Number of Deaths |
6400 |
| Number of Injuries |
41500 |
| Physical Damage |
The number of the damaged houses is about 512880, the number of fire breakouts is 285, and the damaged infrastructures are numerous. |
| Financial Cost |
Over 9600 billion yen |
| Consequences |
The Great Hanshin Earthquake gave so great effect on Japanese society that it caused people to reconsider the social system. |
| Notes |
Number of Deaths:Over 6400 people ; Number of Injuries:Over 41500 people |
| Field |
Civil Engineering
|
| Author |
KUNISHIMA, Masahiko (The University of Tokyo)
HASEGAWA, Tomoaki (The University of Tokyo)
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