So why did the Kobe earthquake happen?

Japan is at a high risk to earthquakes. Kobe is no exception. Japan's second most major port is situated on a minor fault, the Nojma Fault. Unfortunately it lies above a destructive plate margin. Kobe is located above where the Philippines crust (oceanic crust) and the Eurasion crust (continental crust) meet. It was along this fault that the triggered the earthquake that hit Kobe.

At 5.46am on January 17th 1995, whilst many of its citizens were still asleep, the Japanese city of Kobe was hit by the largest earthquake in Japan since 1923. It was recorded at 7.2 on the Richter scale and lasted for 20 seconds. During this time the ground moved 18cm horizontally and 12cm vertically. The earthquake was not only powerful but the epicentre was only 20km away from the city, it resulted in massive damage to property and loss of life. The worst effected area was in the central part of Kobe, a region about 5km by 20k

What happened to Kobe several months after the earthquake?

However, you cannot just prevent an earthquake from occurring, so maybe if Japan adopted some of these ideas damage could be restricted in the future.

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