 Most viewed - Great Hanshin (Kobe) Earthquake 阪神大震災 |
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.427 views
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I was amazed to see Mos Burger back in business so soon. It was another sign of a very progressive recovery.384 views
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Fukae Shopping Center332 views
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Earthquake tourists getting their picture taken.304 views
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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.300 views
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Kobe City Hall buckled at the middle floor.178 views
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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.169 views
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The Japanese tile roof makes the home top-heavy, making it more vulnerable to horizontal swaying and eventual toppling.169 views
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Tilted buildings near Sannomiya Station. It took only 15 sec. to wreak all this damage.161 views
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Kobe Shimbun newspaper offices near Sannomiya Station was in shambles.157 views
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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.153 views
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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. 150 views
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Near Kobe City Hall along Flower Road was this office building which had also collapsed at a middle floor.147 views
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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.146 views
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Interesting contrast between buildings which fell and didn't fall.143 views
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In front of Sannomiya Station is Sogo Dept. Store.138 views
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The engineers said this would be strong enough, but they were dead wrong.138 views
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Damage to Sannomiya Station building.135 views
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Expressway pylon broken.130 views
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The building next to Washington Hotel scraped against the hotel as it fell.125 views
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Crushed car125 views
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Shop shutters along Ikuta Road are tilted due to the crushing weight.124 views
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Another common way in which buildings collapsed was the 1st floor giving way like this small hotel.120 views
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Sannomiya Station119 views
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Cracked Sogo Dept. Store in Sannomiya.116 views
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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.113 views
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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.112 views
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Hankyu Railways' Sannomiya Station being torn down.110 views
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Crushed car109 views
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Crushed Audi.107 views
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Fallen clock which stopped at the time of the earthquake.106 views
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Employees are removing merchandise from Sogo Dept. Store.104 views
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Amid the rubble of a collapsed building, a yakisoba stall sold yakisoba noodles.104 views
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The next day, I again visited Kobe, this time by train to Ashiya Station. See gravestones overturned.103 views
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Collapsed shopping center near Ashiya Station. That's the 2nd floor which now looks like the 1st floor.102 views
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Ashiya Station101 views
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Nihon Seimei Bldg. collapsed at the middle.100 views
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People eating yakisoba amid the rubble.100 views
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The 1st floor is totally flattened.100 views
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Store in shambles.99 views
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Backstreet destruction.98 views
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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.98 views
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A mess inside a restaurant.97 views
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One hotel guest escaped by using bed sheets as a rope.96 views
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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.96 views
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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.96 views
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95 views
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Bus for Ashiya Station, the furthest that trains could go at the time. Trains weren't running within Kobe.95 views
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Vending machine94 views
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A building owner stands by her destroyed building.94 views
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Water station94 views
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The emergency stairway got torn off this building whose first floor got crushed.94 views
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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.94 views
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Ashiya Station platform.93 views
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This house stood firm, while its neighbor collapsed.93 views
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Line for the bus headed for Ashiya Station.92 views
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Weathercock House, built in 1909, withstood the quake.91 views
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The collapsed expressway was so embarrassing that they made it a priority to clear it ASAP.89 views
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Sign saying they are okay.88 views
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Truck carrying relief goods.88 views
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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.87 views
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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.85 views
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Not a good idea to live in a house standing right next to another building.84 views
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Another distinct pattern was buildings on stilts easily collapsing.83 views
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Only the chimney broke off atop the Weathercock House. The inside is a different story.82 views
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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.79 views
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Sifting through the rubble.79 views
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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.78 views
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House covered by a blue tarp to protect against rain.77 views
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Boxes of food (biscuits).75 views
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At least they recovered some things.75 views
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Sign says, "Keep our town beautiful."72 views
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