Great Hanshin earthquake

Great Hanshin earthquake
兵庫県南部地震
阪神・淡路大震災
The damaged Kobe Route of the Hanshin Expressway
USGS ShakeMap
Great Hanshin earthquake is located in Japan
Great Hanshin earthquake
Kobe
Kobe
Great Hanshin earthquake is located in Hyōgo Prefecture
Great Hanshin earthquake
Kobe
Kobe
UTC time1995-01-16 20:46:53
ISC event124708
USGS-ANSSComCat
Local dateJanuary 17, 1995 (1995-01-17)
Local time05:46:53 JST
Duration~20 seconds
Magnitude7.3 MJMA
6.9 Mw[1]
Depth17.6 km (10.9 mi)[1]
Epicenter34°35′N 135°04′E / 34.59°N 135.07°E / 34.59; 135.07[1]
FaultNojima
TypeStrike-slip[2]
Areas affectedJapan
Total damage$200 billion (USD)[3]
Max. intensityJMA 7 (MMI XI–XII)[4][5]
Peak acceleration0.91 g
891 gal
Casualties5,502–6,434 killed[2]
36,896–43,792 injured[2]
251,301–310,000 displaced[2]

The Great Hanshin Earthquake occurred on January 17, 1995, at 05:46:53 JST (January 16 at 20:46:53 UTC) in the southern part of Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, including the region known as Hanshin. It measured 6.9 on the moment magnitude scale and had a maximum intensity of 7 on the JMA Seismic Intensity Scale (XI–XII on the Modified Mercalli intensity scale).[6] The tremors lasted for approximately 20 seconds. The focus of the earthquake was located 17 km beneath its epicenter, on the northern end of Awaji Island, 20 km away from the center of the city of Kobe.

At least 5,000 people died as a result of this earthquake; about 4,600 of them were from Kobe.[7] Among major cities, Kobe, with its population of 1.5 million, was the closest to the epicenter and hit by the strongest tremors. This was Japan's deadliest earthquake in the 20th century after the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake, which claimed more than 105,000 lives.[8]

  1. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference ISC-GEM was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ a b c d Cite error: The named reference PAGER-CAT was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference Comfort was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ National Geophysical Data Center / World Data Service (NGDC/WDS) (1972), Significant Earthquake Database (Data Set), National Geophysical Data Center, NOAA, doi:10.7289/V5TD9V7K
  5. ^ International Seismological Centre. Bulletin of the ISC. Thatcham, United Kingdom. [Event 124708].
  6. ^ The City of Kobe (January 1, 2009). "Statistics" (PDF). The Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake: Statistics and Restoration Progress. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 26, 2011. Retrieved November 29, 2009.
  7. ^ Kobe City FIRE Bureau (January 17, 2006). "被害の状況". 阪神・淡路大震災. Kobe City Fire Bureau. Archived from the original on April 14, 2008. Retrieved May 25, 2008.
  8. ^ "Japan remembers more than 6,400 victims of Kobe earthquake after 22 years". EFE. January 17, 2017. Retrieved October 17, 2020.