Journal of Natural Disaster Science
Journal of Natural Disaster Science, Volume 17, Number 2, 1995, pp.1f.
THE GREAT HANSHIN-AWAJI EARTHQUAKE DISASTER: DAMAGE, SOCIAL RESPONSE, AND RECOVERY
(Received 11 July, 1995 and in revised form March 20, 1996)
Abstract
This January 17 earthquake was a killer earthquake that struck one of the world's largest port cities. As of June 30, the toll from the earthquake in the Kansai region was 5,502 dead, 2 missing, and 39,708 injured. More than half or the dead were over 60 years old. Inner city problems such as densely populated urban areas with old wooden houses and very narrow streets intensified the severity of damage. More than 500,000 houses and buildings were partially or completely destroyed. The slow start of the search and rescue operations and lack of emergency management increased the human and property damage. The redundancy of the water supply systems and quick recovery of electric power contributed to the stabilization or the regional society in spite of the massive damage. The maximum number of evacuees at shelters was 316,678 on January 23; about 20,000 remained on June 30, About 60,000 temporary housing units were planned and some were completed as early as the second week after the earthquake. During these first two weeks, the number of residents rescued in Kobe City was l,888 but those surviving only 733. The total number of fires in Kobe was 176, and the area burned about 70 ha. In terms of economic damage, the loss of property was 11.6 trillion Japanese yen, 2.5% of the Japanese GDP (466 trillion Japanese yen in 1994).
Key words
Great Hanshin Awaji earthquake disaster, liquefaction, fire, lifelines, emergency management, PTSD, preparedness, vulnerability