The Kobe Earthquake Introduction: Earthquake Char

A simple definition of an earthquake would be the shaking of the Earth caused by a sudden movement of rock beneath its surface (USGS, 1996a). A more definitive explanation of earthquakes would focus on the passage of seismic waves which in turn create the violent shaking or vibrating motion of the ground. These motions are termed tremors. Seismic waves are caused by the release of energy from a sudden movement along a fault. A fault is a fracture in the Earth's crust where there has been a displacement of rock (Marsh, 1987, 292).

The movement of air and water is easy to accept because we experience these things everyday. In truth, the physics behind earthquakes is no different than a piece of wood floating on a stream. The main difference being that earthquakes evolve over great spans of time, and involve the movement of tectonic plates.

The Earth's outer shell or lithosphere, is broken into a mosaic of oceanic and continental plates which are in constant motion. While the movement of air and water is familiar to us, the idea that the surface of the Earth is in constant, albeit slow, motion can be difficult to accept.

Alfred Wegener originally proposed the idea in 1912. H. H. Hess suggested the idea of seafloor spreading in 1960 as a further definition of plate tectonics. T. Tuzo Wilson, in the early 1960s theorized the ways and means of Earth's plates colliding, thus creating earthquakes and othe

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35.0 E Awajishima Island, 20 miles south of Kobe (Terry, 1995). The duration of the event was approximately 20 seconds (EQE, 1995a). Exhibit 3
(Source, EQE International) In the Kobe area, there are cretaceous granites are overlain by a relatively thick PlioPleistocene sedimentary unit called the Osaka group, which consists of alluvium interbedded with marine clays. Relatively thin terrace deposits and recent alluvium overlie the Osaka group. Fill material has been placed along much of the waterfront and comprises humanmade islands, such as Port and Rokko islands (EQE, 1995b). Geomatrix Consultants (a geotechnical firm) measured local displacements at two locations along the northern part of the fault from the recent earthquake: Vertical displacements were 1.2 meters, and rightlateral displacements were 1.5 meters. These displacements are in good agreement with measurements by others, who reported maximum vertical displacements of about 1.2 meters and rightlateral displacements of 2.1 meters (EQE, 1995b). Past surfacefaulting events, which are probably similar to the most recent event, were evidenced by the 6 to 7meterhigh fault scarp along the fault. It is unknown whether the surface fault rupture ext
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