Lyell Collection
Geological Society, London, Engineering Geology Special Publications
Lyell Centre  |   Lyell Collection  |   Subscriptions   |   Geological Society  |   Email alerts  |   Online bookshop  |   Help

Keywords:
Author:
Advanced search>>
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow References
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Request Permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Esper, P.
Right arrow Articles by Tachibana, E.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
Geological Society, London, Engineering Geology Special Publications; 1998; v. 15; p. 105-116;
DOI: 10.1144/GSL.ENG.1998.015.01.11
© 1998 Geological Society of London

Section 2: Volcanic and seismic geohazards

Lessons from the Kobe earthquake

Philip Esper1 & Eizaburo Tachibana2

1 Sir Alexander Gibb Ltd., Gibb House, London House, Reading RG6 1BL, UK
2 Department of Structural Mechanics, Osaka University, Osaka, Japan

The Kobe earthquake is considered to be one of the most devastating and costly natural disasters in recent history considering the number of buildings destroyed, the number of people killed and injured, the size of the affected area, and the extent and severity of damage to a wide range of structural types. As a result, important questions have been raised about earthquake preparedness, disaster response, seismic design and codes of practice, and upgrading of earthquake-resistant structures. This paper presents an overview of this earthquake, investigates the extent and types of damage caused, studies the factors behind each type of damage, and highlights important lessons learnt from this earthquake. Protective measures and future research that should be undertaken in Japan, and all countries that are at seismic risk, are recommended in order to reduce damage and casualties in future seismic events.