Which fault caused the 1995 Kobe earthquake?

The 1995 Kobe earthquake was caused primarily by movement along the Nojima Fault. The fault lies on Awaji Island, west of Kobe, and formed part of the complex fault system that ruptured during the Great Hanshin earthquake.

The earthquake struck on January 17, 1995, at 5:46 a.m. Japan Standard Time. It had a Japanese Meteorological Agency magnitude of 7.3 and lasted roughly 20 seconds. During the rupture, the south side of the Nojima Fault moved about 1.5 meters horizontally and 1.2 meters downward, producing intense shaking across Kobe and surrounding parts of the Kansai region.

The Nojima Fault was not the only structure involved: the rupture also extended northeastward along the Suma and Suwayama faults through central Kobe. That helps explain why the answer is sometimes described more broadly as the Kobe fault system. The disaster killed more than 6,000 people and exposed weaknesses in older buildings, elevated highways, water systems, and other infrastructure. A preserved section of the Nojima Fault is now part of an earthquake memorial site.