1. MEDC Case Study : Kobe Earthquake in Japan
Evidence that it is a MEDC….. Where did it happen?
~ Kobe is now the largest seaport in Japan Kobe is located 32 kilometers west of Osaka on the Japanese
island of Honshu. The epicenter was on Awaji Island in Osaka
~ It was a port for foreign ships when Japan was
Bay. The earthquake’s focus was very shallow, at a depth of 15-
opened to the world after 1853 20 km. This results in extremely violent shaking of ground.
~ To avoid congestion in the city, the top of Rokko
Mountains were excavated and used to make two
artificial islands for port terminals, residential areas
and business.
~ Low infernal and maternal mortality rate
~ Literacy is as close to 100%
~ All citizens have in-house access to clean water, and
almost 100 percent of households are covered by the
city's unique three-stream sewage system.
~ Housing has expanded rapidly, giving most people
access to increasing space in pleasant suburbs.
~ Almost 100 percent of households own a color
television and more than two-thirds have air-
conditioners, electric heaters and audio equipment.
~ Excellent internal rail and subway systems move
people efficiently and a well designed traffic system
moves vehicles faster than in smaller and less
congested cities

2. Primary effects Secondary effects
Nearly 200, 000 buildings collapsed, and also 1km Electricity, gas and water supplies were disrupted
stretch of the Hanshin Expressway and numerous Fires , caused by broken gas pipes and ruptured
bridges along a 130km section of the bullet train route. electricity mains, raged for several days, destroying a
Several trains on minor lines were derailed. further 7500 houses (many of which were made of wood).
120 of the 150 quays in the port of Kobe were At one time, the wall of fire extended for over 400
destroyed. meters.
Many of the highways were elevated Roads were at gridlock, delaying ambulances and fire
engines.
The port was damaged due to liquefaction
An estimated 230 000 people were made homeless and
Modern buildings designed to be earthquake proof
had to live in temporary shelters (unheated school gyms
suffered little damage although some were left
or in open parks) at a time when night-time temperatures
standing at an angle when the ground beneath them
dropped to -2 degrees. There was a short-term shortage
liquefied.
of blankets, clean water and food.
Many of the older wooden houses collapsed
People were afraid to return home as the 716 recorded
Over 6, 430 people dead while 35, 000 were injured.
aftershocks lasted several days after the main event (74
More than 300, 000 were left homeless. 104, 906 were strong enough to be felt by humans).
houses were destroyed and 460, 000 were left
Industries, including Mitsubishi and Panasonic, were
damaged. This was because of the high density layout
forced to close.
of the city.

3. Were the people prepared for the earthquake?
No, the people were not prepared. Many homes were not
earthquakes proof, leading to many deaths.
When did it happened?
It happened on Tuesday, January 17th, 1995 at 5.46 a.m. (local
time)
What happened?
An earthquake of magnitude 7.2 on the Richter Scale struck
the Kobe region of south-central Japan. This region is the
second most populated and industrialized area after Tokyo,
with a total population of about 10 million people. The ground
shook for only about 20 seconds but in that short time, over
5,000 people died, over 300,000 people became homeless and
damage worth an estimated £100 billion was caused to roads,
houses, factories and infrastructure (gas, electric, water,
sewerage, phone cables, etc).

4. Why did it happen?
Three crustal plates meet near to the coast of
Japan. Close to Kobe, the denser oceanic Philippines
Plate is being subducted beneath the lighter
continental Eurasian Plateat a rate of about 10
centimeters per year. The Japanese island arc has
been formed from the molten magma released by
the melting Philippines Plate. Earthquakes are very
common here and happen because of the friction
resulting from the two plates colliding along this
destructive margin. The great destruction which
resulted from the 1995 Kobe Earthquake was due
to the shallow depth of the focus which was only
about 16 km below the surface and the fact that
the epicenter occurred close to a very heavily
populated area. Seismic shockwaves travelled from
Awaji Island (the epicenter) along the Nojima Fault
to the cities of Kobe and Osaka.

5. Short - term responses Long – term responses
1) The Japanese government evacuated people into Kobe’s infrastructure, including water, electricity, gas and
telephone services, was fully operational by July.
temporary shelters because they were still at risk from
many fires and unstable buildings.
The area worst affected by fire had been cleared of rubble
but little rebuilding had taken place. Most commercial
2) Bulldozers were brought in to clear fallen buildings. buildings in central areas had been repaired.
3) Emergencies rations and medication are provided for the All rail services were back to normal by August.
survivors.
One year later the port of Kobe was 80 percent functional
but the Hanshin Expressway remained closed.
4) Roads were closed to speed up the recovery effort
Replacement buildings had to meet stronger earthquake-
5) Fires were put out by the fire department resistance standards. High-rise buildings had to have flexible
steel frames with reinforcing bars to absorb shockwaves,
6) Due to destroyed transport, the local Yakuza crime houses were not to be built from brick (which shakes loose)
syndicate also distributed aid. or wood (which burns too easily) but with fire-resistant
materials. New buildings had to be built on solid rock, not
clay, as water rises to ground level during an earthquake,
7) Rescue teams set out to find survivors
causing clay to ‘liquefy’ into mud. This results in the collapse
of buildings.
8) Around 1.2 million volunteers participated in the relief
work, for the first three months following the disaster. There was an increase in the number of seismic instruments
to record earth movements in the region.
9) Big retail firms like Daiei and 7-Eleven used their existing
Rubber blocks were built below bridges to absorb the shock
supplies to provide basic necessities to affected people.
from earthquakes
Mobile networks such as NTT and Motorola provided free
telephone service to the people. Most major transport routes were reinforced in order to
prevent disruption in the event of another earthquake.
10) Non-governmental organizations such as the infamous
yakusa-relying on their nationwide network and clear lines of Japan completely revamped its disaster prevention planning
authority-were able to transport relief supplies (water, due to criticism of the former one.
food, toiletries, diapers, etc) to the Kobe area and
Control over the fire response was handed over to a larger
distribute them to the local residents
emergency response ‘command base’ in the region.