 Last additions - Great Hanshin (Kobe) Earthquake 阪神大震災 |
I was amazed to see Mos Burger back in business so soon. It was another sign of a very progressive recovery.Jan 30, 2010
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Earthquake tourists getting their picture taken.Jan 30, 2010
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Fukae Shopping CenterJan 30, 2010
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Jan 30, 2010
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Jan 30, 2010
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The expressway that supposed withstand such quakes collapsed. It was a major scandal. The shinkansen bullet train tracks also had broken concrete columns which revealed pieces of scrap wood mixed in. Jan 30, 2010
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The engineers said this would be strong enough, but they were dead wrong.Jan 30, 2010
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The famous scene of the expressway collapsed on its side was completely gone 10 days after the quake. They had cleared the collapsed section (about 600 meters) of the road.Jan 30, 2010
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The collapsed expressway was so embarrassing that they made it a priority to clear it ASAP.Jan 30, 2010
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The Japanese tile roof makes the home top-heavy, making it more vulnerable to horizontal swaying and eventual toppling.Jan 30, 2010
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When you look at these toppled homes, you cannot help but think that they do look flimsy with thin walls. The problem is, such cheaply-made homes are very common in Japan.Jan 30, 2010
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Something they needed the most was torn off the building. If you live in a high-rise building in Japan, have ropes ready in your veranda in case your stairway is destroyed like this.Jan 30, 2010
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The emergency stairway got torn off this building whose first floor got crushed.Jan 30, 2010
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I really felt sorry for the people who had just bought a house or condo with a 35-year mortgage and the house or condo was destroyed by the quake. They are stuck paying off the housing loan and also have to pay monthly rent at a new place.Jan 30, 2010
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Jan 30, 2010
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At least they recovered some things.Jan 30, 2010
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Sifting through the rubble.Jan 30, 2010
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A makeshift altar placed on the collapsed home. Someone died here. By the time I visited, most of the trapped people had been rescued.Jan 30, 2010
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Another distinct pattern was buildings on stilts easily collapsing.Jan 30, 2010
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Sign says, "Keep our town beautiful."Jan 30, 2010
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House covered by a blue tarp to protect against rain.Jan 30, 2010
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Collapsed 1st floor of an apt. building. I don't recommend living on the 1st floor of any building in Japan.Jan 30, 2010
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Houses along the train tracks in Ashiya. Basically, Japanese-style homes with heavy tile roofs collapsed easily, while concrete homes withstood the quake better.Jan 30, 2010
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Jan 30, 2010
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Not a good idea to live in a house standing right next to another building.Jan 30, 2010
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This house stood firm, while its neighbor collapsed.Jan 30, 2010
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Crushed Audi.Jan 30, 2010
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Collapsed shopping center near Ashiya Station. That's the 2nd floor which now looks like the 1st floor.Jan 30, 2010
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Ashiya StationJan 30, 2010
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The next day, I again visited Kobe, this time by train to Ashiya Station. See gravestones overturned.Jan 30, 2010
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Ashiya Station platform.Jan 30, 2010
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Jan 30, 2010
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Bus for Ashiya Station, the furthest that trains could go at the time. Trains weren't running within Kobe.Jan 30, 2010
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Line for the bus headed for Ashiya Station.Jan 30, 2010
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Water stationJan 30, 2010
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Jan 30, 2010
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Only the chimney broke off atop the Weathercock House. The inside is a different story.Jan 30, 2010
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Weathercock House, built in 1909, withstood the quake.Jan 30, 2010
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In the Kitano area where there are many Western-style homes, the damage was not so apparent. But the interior sustained damage. None of the buildings collapsed though.Jan 30, 2010
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Crushed carJan 30, 2010
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Boxes of food (biscuits).Jan 30, 2010
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A building owner stands by her destroyed building.Jan 30, 2010
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Truck carrying relief goods.Jan 30, 2010
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Vending machineJan 30, 2010
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Backstreet destruction.Jan 30, 2010
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Sign saying they are okay.Jan 30, 2010
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Jan 30, 2010
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Jan 30, 2010
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The 1st floor is totally flattened.Jan 30, 2010
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One hotel guest escaped by using bed sheets as a rope.Jan 30, 2010
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People eating yakisoba amid the rubble.Jan 30, 2010
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Another common way in which buildings collapsed was the 1st floor giving way like this small hotel.Jan 30, 2010
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Amid the rubble of a collapsed building, a yakisoba stall sold yakisoba noodles.Jan 30, 2010
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Jan 30, 2010
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Crushed carJan 30, 2010
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Interesting contrast between buildings which fell and didn't fall.Jan 30, 2010
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Store in shambles.Jan 30, 2010
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Jan 30, 2010
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No, my camera lens is not distorting this picture. That building is actually tilting a lot, but they still allowed traffic on the road below.Jan 30, 2010
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Fallen clock which stopped at the time of the earthquake.Jan 30, 2010
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A mess inside a restaurant.Jan 30, 2010
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Nihon Seimei Bldg. collapsed at the middle, near Sannomiya Station. It's hard to imagine what would've happened if the quake struck during working hours with people working in this building.Jan 30, 2010
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Nihon Seimei Bldg. collapsed at the middle.Jan 30, 2010
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Jan 30, 2010
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Hankyu Railways' Sannomiya Station being torn down.Jan 30, 2010
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Sannomiya StationJan 30, 2010
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Damage to Sannomiya Station building.Jan 30, 2010
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The building next to Washington Hotel scraped against the hotel as it fell.Jan 30, 2010
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Employees are removing merchandise from Sogo Dept. Store.Jan 30, 2010
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Tilted buildings near Sannomiya Station. It took only 15 sec. to wreak all this damage.Jan 30, 2010
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Jan 30, 2010
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Shop shutters along Ikuta Road are tilted due to the crushing weight.Jan 30, 2010
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Cracked Sogo Dept. Store in Sannomiya.Jan 30, 2010
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Sogo Dept. Store cracked vertically in the middle. This building was later torn down and replaced with a new dept. store building.Jan 30, 2010
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In front of Sannomiya Station is Sogo Dept. Store.Jan 30, 2010
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Expressway pylon broken.Jan 30, 2010
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Kobe Shimbun newspaper offices near Sannomiya Station was in shambles.Jan 30, 2010
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Kobe City Hall buckled at the middle floor.Jan 30, 2010
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Santica building near Sannomiya Station had a middle floor crushed. As I walked around the devastation, I could see common ways in which the buildings collapsed. High rise buildings commonly collapsed on a middle floor.Jan 30, 2010
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Near Kobe City Hall along Flower Road was this office building which had also collapsed at a middle floor.Jan 30, 2010
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Distribution place for relief goods. Ten days after the earthquake, the initial fires, confusion, and pandemonium had subsided. It was pretty calm by then, but the damage was still visible.Jan 30, 2010
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Kobe Port. Most of the people entering Kobe during this time were relatives and friends of Kobe residents, bringing relief goods.Jan 30, 2010
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Since Jan. 2010 is the 15th anniversary of the Kobe earthquake that struck on Jan. 17, 1995, I decided to upload these photos for the first time. I visited Kobe 10 days after the killer quake struck. Had to take a hydrofoil from Osaka to reach Kobe.Jan 30, 2010
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