Kobe was the Japanese city devastated by the 1995 Great Hanshin earthquake. The earthquake struck at 5:46 a.m. on January 17, 1995, in southern Hyōgo Prefecture, with its epicenter near northern Awaji Island, about 20 kilometers from central Kobe.
Also called the Kobe earthquake or Great Hanshin-Awaji earthquake, the event measured about 6.9 on the moment magnitude scale and produced Japan’s highest seismic-intensity rating at the time. The shaking lasted approximately 20 seconds, but its shallow depth and proximity to a major urban area caused catastrophic damage.
More than 5,000 people died, with most fatalities occurring in Kobe and nearby communities. Buildings, elevated expressways, railways, utilities and much of Kobe’s important port infrastructure were damaged. Fires and liquefaction compounded the destruction. Osaka was also affected and is nearby, which makes it a plausible wrong choice, but Kobe was the closest major city and the disaster’s namesake. Tokyo and Nagoya were not the city devastated by this earthquake.