Kobe earthquake after 20 years

KOBE – I am traveling with a group to this Japanese city essentially to have a taste of the world famous Kobe beef. But the conversations couldn’t help going back to 20 years ago when that disastrous earthquake shook Kobe and shocked the world with its damage.

The earthquake struck Kobe, an important port city in Japan, on Jan. 17, 1995, over 21 years ago. It measured 7.4 on the Richter scale and occurred as a result of plate movement along the boundary between the Philippine, Pacific and Eurasian Plate.

Kobe has one of the largest container ports in the world. The effects of the earthquake were catastrophic despite some buildings having been made earthquake proof. Many of the older buildings simply toppled over or collapsed. A lot of the traditional wooden buildings survived the earthquake, but burned down in fires caused by broken gas and electricity lines.

I googled for details and found out that more than 5000 people died. Some 300,000 were made homeless.  

The worst effected area was in the central part of Kobe, including the main docks and port area. According to a number of websites including exploregeography.net, this area was built on soft and easily moved rocks. The port itself was built on reclaimed ground.

Here, the ground liquefied and acted like thick soup, causing buildings to topple sideways. This made me wonder how safe are all those tall buildings in our own reclaimed areas by Manila Bay.

Raised motorways collapsed during the shaking.  Other roads were badly damaged making rescue attempts difficult. The earthquake occurred in the morning when people were cooking breakfast, causing fires, which took over two days to put out.

Telephones and other communication services were put out of action, making communication slow and difficult. Electricity and water supplies were badly damaged over large areas. This meant no power for heating, lights, cooking, etc.

Clean, fresh water was in short supply until April 1995. Many people had to sleep in cars or tents in cold winter conditions.

According to coolgeography.co.uk, water, electricity, gas, telephone services were fully working by July 1995 and the railways were back in service by August 1995. A year after the earthquake, 80 percent of the port was working but the Hanshin Expressway was still closed.

 By January 1999, 134,000 housing units had been constructed but many people were still living in temporary housing. New laws were passed to make buildings and transport structures even more earthquake proof. More instruments were installed in the area to monitor earthquake movements.

  The same website reports that most new buildings and roads have, in the last 20 years, been designed to be earthquake proof, schools and factories have regular earthquake drills, etc. 

Our guide during my recent visit to Osaka last March is from Kobe. He told us he was in the United States on assignment with a trading company he worked for when the earthquake happened. He was worried about his mother and asked a friend to look for her.

It took a bit of time for the friend to locate his mother, but the news was sad. The mother was killed when their house collapsed on her during the earthquake.

Our guide on this trip starting in Tokyo is also from Kobe. Toichiro Togame told me he just left for Germany a few days before the quake to assume a business assignment. He wanted to go back home upon learning of the tragedy, but cut roads and communication lines made it impossible. His story had a happy ending. He eventually got hold of his father and found out his family was safe.

The tragedy brought out the best in the Japanese people, something we saw again during the earthquake and tsunami in the Fukushima area.

The longer term recovery for Kobe was quick. Railways were 80 percent operational within just a month, most roads were back to normal by July that year. A year later the port was 80 percent operational again.

According to exploregeography.net, buildings which survived the quake had been built to stricter regulations from 1981 onward. New buildings were built further apart to prevent the domino effect should they fall. High rise buildings are now built with flexible steel frames and rubber blocks put under bridges to absorb the shock.

Indeed, to see Kobe today gives little hint of the tragedy. As the Japan Times editorialized last year in commemoration of its 20th anniversary, “babies born around the time of the disaster are turning 20 and attended coming-of-age ceremonies held this week, testifying to the passing of a whole generation since the event.”

According to Kobe’s mayor, Japan Times continued, 44 percent of the city’s population and 46 percent of municipal government workers belong to a generation that has no firsthand experience with the 1995 quake… 

We have much to learn from Japan in our equally earthquake prone country along the Pacific Ring of Fire. They have annual earthquake drills in Japan, a practice we have recently adopted.

 But we have to do more than those drills. I still doubt the engineer’s offices in city halls all over our country are enforcing the building code enough to protect us in case of a similar quake. The lack of planning in our urban areas coupled with spotty enforcement of building standards will likely make our experience of a potential Kobe-like earthquake more devastating in terms of human anguish.

As for the Kobe beef, it is as good as its reputation says it is. But the best story one gets out of a visit to Kobe has to do with how to prepare for  a catastrophe similar to what they experienced some 20 years ago.

Order of the Rising Sun

Philippine Ambassador to Japan Manuel M. Lopez was conferred Japan’s Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun by Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida in Tokyo as he completed his tour of duty. Lopez was recognized for his strong contributions to the enhancement of bilateral ties between the two nations.

Ambassador Lopez’s long list of accomplishments is topped by the recent State Visit of Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko to the Philippines. An Imperial State Visit is considered rare and the one we hosted last January may be the last. There were reports this week in Tokyo the Emperor is considering stepping down. 

 Ambassador Lopez was also able to enhance business ties, using his friendships with many officials of leading Japanese conglomerates. Japanese investments in the Philippines soared during his watch. 

 The Order of the Rising Sun was established in 1875, Japan’s first official decoration that marked the start of the Japanese honors system.

Boo Chanco’s e-mail address is [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @boochanco