How did the Kobe earthquake affect Japan's economy?

Answer 1

Primary effects.

· They include the collapse of buildings, bridges and roads resulting from the seismic waves shaking the crust. During the 20 second earthquake, the ground moved up to 50 centimetres horizontally and up to 1 metre vertically. Some of the deaths were caused by these primary effects.

Secondary effects

· Include the fires that broke out all over the city of Kobe, the congestion and chaos on the roads, the closure of businesses and the problem of homelessness. Many more people died in the fires that followed the earthquake. Problems were made worse by the large number of aftershocks (over 1,300)

· Many of the older, wooden houses completely collapsed. Fire, triggered by broken gas pipes and sparks from severed electrical cables, caused a huge amount of damage, destroying at least 7,500 wooden homes. Office blocks built in the 1960's of steel and concrete frequently collapsed in the middle so that a whole floor was crushed but the rooms above and below remained intact.

· Modern buildings, designed to be earthquake proof, did quite well on the whole and suffered little damage, although some were left standing at an angle when the ground beneath them liquefied. An additional problem for rebuilding was that most people were not covered by insurance due to the difficulties of insuring such an earthquake prone area.

· Almost 300,000 people were made homeless by the earthquake and had to be given emergency shelter. The severe winter weather (-2°C.) made this a serious problem. People were put into schools, town halls, open parks, etc. and were forced to live, in some cases for long periods, in overcrowded, unsanitary conditions. Food, blankets, medical supplies and clean water were, for the first few days, in short supply. The scale of the problem made it difficult for the authorities to cope.

· Kobe is an important route centre. The earthquake caused massive damage to all the transport facilities. Several sections of motorway, many of which were built above the ground on tall concrete stilts, collapsed or toppled sideways. This resulted in the Hanshin Expressway being completely closed. Railway lines were buckled and many stations damaged. A 130 kilometre section of the 'bullet train' rail network had to be closed. At the port, cranes tilted or fell and 120 (out of 150) quays where ships were moored were destroyed. Port buildings and their contents were badly damaged in many places.

· Strong ground movements led to settlement and liquefaction in these areas and so damage to industry was severe. The difficulties of transporting raw materials and finished goods to, from, and within the region also caused great problems for well-known industries such as Panasonic and Mitsubishi. Industries affected include shipbuilding, steelworks, breweries, pharmaceutical, computer hardware and consumer goods firms.

Answer 2

A lot of infrastructure was destroyed, including Tokyo Disneyland and the Port Of Tokyo. According to Tohoku Electric, around 4.4 million households in northeastern Japan were left without electricity. Several nuclear and conventional power plants went offline after the earthquake. An oil refinery of Cosmo Oil Company was set on fire by the quake at Ichihara, Chiba Prefecture to the east of Tokyo.

Japan's transport network suffered as well. Many sections of Tohoku expressway serving northern Japan have been damaged. Many railways services were suspended in Tokyo, with an estimated 20,000 people stranded at major stations across Tokyo. In the hours after the earthquake, some train services were resumed.

Answer 3

they had to pay alot , and plus they had repair many buildings , factories and schools/colleges again

Answer 4

like der ded so dey dont care

like a boss

g g

yo

wazzup

Answer 5

they didn't have no homes to live and a lot of things were destroy and they couldn't get out of the city even no food some people died by surviving the tsunami and the earthquake