On Tuesday, January 17, at 5:46 a.m. local time, an earthquake of magnitude 7.2 (Richter scale) struck the region of Kobe and Osaka in south-central Japan.

... On Tuesday, January 17, at 5:46 a.m. local time, an earthquake of magnitude 7.2 (Richter scale) struck the region of Kobe and Osaka in south-central Japan. This region is Japan's second-most populated and industrialized area, after Tokyo, with a total population of about 10 million. The shock occurred at a shallow depth on a fault running from Awaji Island through the city of Kobe, which in itself has a population of about 1.5 million. This was an unsuspecting city, scientist had doubted a big earthquake there since it was quite a distance from the point were the three-plate boundaries meet. Strong ground shaking lasted for about 20 seconds and caused severe damage over a large very area. Nearly 5,500 deaths were confirmed, with the number of injured people reaching about 35,000. Nearly 180,000 buildings were badly damaged or destroyed, and officials estimate that more than 300,000 people were homeless on

want to read more? →