I am doing a geography essay on “Why did so many people die in the Kobe earthquake?” and I can’t think of what to write. I need to know how people die in earthquakes.
Can yo help me please?
Chosen Answer:
Japan is a country that has thousands of minor tremors each year but the Kobe earthquake was one of the worst in its history and what’s more, the Kobe region was thought to be fairly safe in terms of seismic activity. Completely unexpected.
It struck at 05:46 local time just as commuters were starting their journey into work. It was a really busy part if the morning.
The earthquake was particularly devastating because it had a shallow focus. It had a “strike-slip mechanism.” The resulting surface rupture had an average horizontal displacement of about 1.5 meters on the Nojima fault.
The shaking lasted about 20 seconds and was followed by several aftershocks. Not good.
Although there were newly built ductile-frame high rise buildings that withstood the earthquake, MANY of the buildings in Kobe had been built before the development of strict seismic codes. Most of the deaths and injuries occurred when older wood-frame houses with heavy clay tile roofs collapsed.
What’s more, the collapse of buildings was followed by the ignition of over 300 fires within minutes of the earthquake caused by ruptured gas lines. Response to the fires was hindered by the failure of the water supply system and the disruption of the traffic system. All this REALLY hampered the rescue effort while hundreds of people were trapped under the rubble.
Seismology is an exact science and it’s extremely difficult to forecast when and where quakes it will occur, but Tsuneo Katayama (seismology expert) afterwards wrote that he “had opportunities to observe the damages caused by the 1989 Loma Prieta and the 1994 Northridge earthquakes.” But he thought that Japanese structures would not collapse as U.S. structures had in those earthquakes.
“While our country was having a bubbling economy, we Japanese forgot to pay due attention to mother nature.”
It caught everyone completely off guard.
Hope this all helps but SmartAZ is right, wikipedia would be a great site to research.
by: Emilie
on: 11th March 11