Why did so many people die in the Kobe Earthquake?

... Why did so many people die in the Kobe Earthquake? Japan is situated in North East Asia between the Sea of Japan and the North Pacific Sea and has a population of 125,688,711 (1997) and a total area of 377,815 kilometres squared (145,874 square miles). Japan occupies over 3900 islands of which consists of four main islands which are Hokkaido, Honshu, Kyushu and Shikoku. The central island of Honshu occupies 61 per cent of the total land area and contains 80 per cent of Japan's population. Honshu also contains the capital Tokyo, which is Japan's major city with a population of 8,019,938 (1995). Japan in the 19th century was living in a medieval era that was centuries behind the rest of the world's lifestyle. This came as a great shock to their country as they had been isolated from other cultures for such a long time. Eventually, Japan had

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