In the early morning of January 17, 1995, the land between the Japanese cities of Osaka and Kobe, located in the south of the island of Honshu, suddenly shook. The earth shook with such force that the echo of this shock swept across the world.
On an early winter morning, the inhabitants of both cities were still awake, but the earthquake was so strong that it instantly woke everyone up. Many from a dream could not immediately understand what was happening. Experienced and experienced people, however, immediately guessed what was the matter and hurried to run out into the street. True, what they saw there shocked many: the street pavement bumped up, gaps formed in the asphalt, some houses simply collapsed, on others the balconies hung on the same reinforcement. Hot water streams gushed from underground, broken power lines sparked, underground metro stations were filled up. The city center was in ruins.
The earthquake continued for twenty seconds, reaching 7.2 points. Only twenty seconds, but the consequences were truly dire. Both metropolises were practically cut off from the rest of the world. Kobe was particularly damaged. The Japanese were really proud of this flourishing modern city. The city had about one and a half million inhabitants, it housed large banks and enterprises of metallurgical and transport engineering, chemical industry, shipbuilding … And all this turned into ruins in twenty seconds.
Immediately, fires broke out in different parts of Kobe. But there was no one to extinguish them - it was impossible to drive along the central streets. And there was nowhere to get water - the water supply lines were severed. On the twisted streets, through the rubble it was possible to wade only on foot. Telephone communication did not work, many shops disappeared, and with them industrial and food products. Almost a third of residential and office buildings were so badly destroyed that they practically did not lend themselves to restoration. Some houses have simply disappeared from the face of the earth. Three hundred thousand inhabitants of Kobe were left without a roof over their heads.
On that January day in 1995, Japan experienced what was probably the largest earthquake since 1923. According to preliminary estimates, more than 6,000 people died under the ruins, another 26,000 were pulled alive from the rubble, but almost all of them needed medical attention.
The property damage caused by the earthquake was (according to rough estimates) about $ 100 billion. Not only residential and office buildings were destroyed, but also motorways, gas and water supply lines. The city was practically paralyzed. Those railways and autobahns, which were still considered seismic resistant, were put out of action. Television did not work, and even radio stations were not immediately able to establish their broadcasts. In the city itself, the Hanshin concrete highway, which was considered to be unique, collapsed, which was called the top of the engineering construction art. According to experts, it was able to withstand earthquakes of magnitude 8 and higher. But alas! Its powerful concrete supports could not withstand a 7.2 point shock and crumbled like sand. The many-kilometer-long concrete road, together with the cars passing at that early hour, collapsed, burying hundreds of people under the rubble.
These are rough days for the Japanese government. At first, it could receive all information only by radio. It was impossible to get to Kobe in the usual way, the nearby airfields did not function, the highways cut off before reaching the city, and the railway connection was also interrupted. The days passed, and the city could not get any help. Everyone got out of the catastrophic situation himself. Many Kobe residents felt that the government in Tokyo had left them to their fate and did not want to show concern.
But the Japanese criminal organization Yakuza, known for its mafia structure and controlling the gambling business in the city, decided to take advantage of the tragic situation. No, its members were not engaged in looting in the first hours after the earthquake: they did not plunder the empty apartments and institutions, they did not scour the destroyed banks in search of money. The Yakuza bosses realized that their finest hour had come. They instantly rebuilt and took power in the city into their own hands instead of administrative authorities. They quickly organized the supply of water, gas, electricity, and without demanding any money from the residents. Its representatives came to their homes and brought food to the elderly, organized medical care and really replaced the legal authority. By doing everything for free, they have won the authority and trust of the local population and achieved a lot by doing this. The same Yakuza, which was considered a bloody underground organization capable only of blackmailing, robbing and killing the rich and super-rich, has suddenly turned into a charitable organization.
Promotional video:
In official Tokyo, in fact, for a long time they could not decide who should be involved in the restoration of Kobe: to bring water to their homes, supply residents with food, warm clothes, and provide them with medical care. It took six long months before everything more or less got better. But 17,000 residents continued to live in the open for several months, with no hope of improving their living conditions.
After the devastating earthquake, the Japanese government allocated significant funds to study the causes of earthquakes, to predict earthquakes. According to Japanese politicians, it is much cheaper to predict the tectonic movements of the earth in a timely manner than to restore the destroyed later.
HUNDRED GREAT DISASTERS. N. A. Ionina, M. N. Kubeev