On the Recovery of Shinkansen and JR Kobe line from Earthquake Damage
Norio SHINOMIYA
The big earthquake which hit Hanshin and Awaji last time brought
an unprecedented havoc on the Japanese railways. It was a mega-quake
of magnitude 7.2 with the epicenter located in the northern part of
Awaji Island and its seismic intensity 7 was the first one ever
registered in the observation record of the areas extending from
Kobe to Nishinomiya and Takarazuka. These cities are hubs of transport
with concentrated population. In a 4 km long zone squeezed between
Mt. Rokko and Seto Inland sea a number of railway lines and highways
such as JR Sanyo-Shinkansen, JR Kobe line, Hanshin and Hankyu lines
and Hanshin Expressway run constituting a traffic artery of Japan.
The catastrophy was the worst one leaving all these lines destroyed
in tatters and an early recovery of the railway is strongly demanded
for the sake of quick recovery of the cities, too.