Last month (January 17) was the 8 year anniversary of the Great Hanshin earthquake, centered in Kobe, which measured 7.2 on the Richter scale and killed over 5,000 people. Here are some snapshots of the aftermath, “seen through the eyes of a postgraduate student,” that I stumbled upon this morning. And here are some others.
5 Replies to “Earthquake aftermath”
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My strongest memory was the buidings that had collapsed, yet were still standing, especially the two included here near Sannomiya Station. I couldn’t take pictures myself, considering there were dead people trapped in buildings all around. Anyone who rode on the Hankyu Kobe Line during the next year probably remembers the apartment building beside the tracks that seemed to held up entirely by a red car that had been in the parking bay underneath, that was now smashed, but for the undamaged rear end, poking out like a boil ready to burst.
Oops, not as clearly written as it should have been. I meant to say, the buidings that had central floors collapsed accordion style, yet the upper floors and lower floors were visually intact. Two near Sogo are linked here. Some buidings were leaining precipitously, yet nothing was done, and when the rain came and increased the leverage, they finally toppled.
thanks nils for that personal perspective. i was thinking earlier this evening, before seeing your comment, how strange it was that I lived through the Loma Prieta earthquake (San Francisco, 1989, 7.1 magnitude), but have no photos whatsoever of that time (I do have some brief super-8 footage somewhere, but it’s inconsequential). There weren’t many deaths (and Kobe is a good reminder that the damage suffered was comparatively very light), but I just did’t feel like taking any photos.