Kobe Earthquake Disaster-Documentary

The Great Hanshin earthquake, or Kobe earthquake, occurred on Tuesday, January 17, 1995 in the southern part of Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. It measured 6.8 on the moment magnitude scale (USGS), and Mj7.3 on JMA magnitude scale. The tremors lasted for approximately 20 seconds. The focus of the earthquake was located 16 km beneath its epicenter, on the northern end of Awaji Island, 20 km away from the city of Kobe.

Approximately 6,434 people lost their lives about 4,600 of them were from Kobe. 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 worst earthquake in the 20th century after the Great Kantō earthquake in 1923, which claimed 140,000 lives. It caused approximately ten trillion yen ($100 billion) in damage, 2.5% of Japan's GDP at the time.