Why did so many people die in the Japanese earthquake?

Answer 1

The reason that so many people died in the Kobe earthquake, rather than in the other major earthquakes in the world, is because Kobe is one of the most popular cities to be hit by a major earthquake. The fact that it hit in 5 in the morning, meant that everybody was in there poorly structured houses that were not made to resist the force of a 7.2 scaled earthquakes.

The older, more traditional houses were the ones that killed most. With heavy rooves and only four wooden posts to hold them up, they were not built for earthquakes at all: Infact, their purpose was to shield against typhoons. They fell down in the pankcake effect (see seconds until disaster:Kobe Earthquake). Many people were crushed under the weight of their rooves, whilst their wooden houses burned.

Also the Japanese government was shocked by what had happened, for some strange reason, and it took a while for the emergency services to get up and in action. Kobe is just 20km from the epicentre of the earthquake so that had devastation effects too.

A large amount of people died from a wall of fire, approx 5m high and because is was so heavily populated. People had no where to run, as it only lasted 28.557 seconds.

Japan is placed on 3 plate boundaries Eurasian, pacific, and Philippines.

Answer 2

More people were killed in Kobe, Japan than in California when both earthquakes were of similar strength and occurred in heavily populated cities because the people of Kobe, Japan than in California because they were not prepared for the earthquake.

By: Ashaparekh44

Source: Mrs. Melissa Polimeni and Killer Quake video

Answer 3

buildings collapseing was the most case of death:)

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I had to do this exact topic for a Geography essay.

500 people died in fires

5,502 died during the earthquake (all in 20 seconds), could have been due to buildings collapsing.

300 died of other consequences.

15,000- 42,000 people were injured.

So many people died due to the fact that an earthquake in Kobe was unexpected. The fire service were not ready to attend fires, so people died in fires.

Due to roads being blocked and transport blocked off, aid couldn't reach the affected zones.

Hope this helps. :)

Answer 4

Many people die in earthquakes mainly because of the debris that falls during an earthquake. There is also the possibility of fires and electric shocks from downed power lines, but the debris is the main factor to blame.

Answer 5

Alot of the deaths that happened in Kobe were due to fire storms. These were caused by houses that has gas supplies or any other things that cause fires.

Peoples old traditional houses collapsed leaving people trapped in the rubble. Many deaths happened this way.

The fact that it was 7.2 on the Richter scale, made the impact worse. Liquidification made the ground all soft and more houses collapsed because of this. Emergency services were also delayed because of this.

After the earthquake, Japan built earthquake proof buildings. This was done by putting springs under houses or support.

Answer 6

So many people died because there were old houses that weren't earthquake proof & it happend at 5:40AM in the morning:( :)

Answer 7

its not the most powerful in history its the 8th largest earthquake ever the most powerful was in Chile 1960 i belive. it was 9.5

Answer 8

Because when the earthquake took place all of the gas pipes under ground snapped meaning that it all seeped through the ground,