The Kobe earthquake (otherwise known as the great hanshin earthquake) occured on January 17,

1995, at 05:46:53 JST (January 16 at 20:46:53 UTC) in the southern part of Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan,
including the region known as Hanshin. It measured 7.2 on the moment magnitude scale. The
tremors lasted for approximately 20 seconds. The focus of the earthquake was located 17 km
beneath its epicenter, on the northern end of Awaji Island, 20 km away from the center of the city of
Kobe.
Most of the largest earthquakes in Japan are caused by subduction of the philippine or pacific

with mechanisms that involve either energy released within the subducting plate or the
accumphillipineulation and sudden release of stress in the overlying plate. Earthquakes of these
[8]
types are especially frequent in the coastal regions of northeastern Japan.
[9]
The Great Hanshin earthquake belonged to a third type, called an "inland shallow earthquake".
Earthquakes of this type occur along active faults. Even at lower magnitudes, they can be very
destructive because they often occur near populated areas and because their hypocenters are
located less than 20 km below the surface. The Great Hanshin earthquake began north of the
island of Awaji, which lies just south of Kobe. It spread toward the southwest along the Nojima
Fault on Awaji and toward the northeast along the Suma and Suwayama faults, which run

[10]
through the center of Kobe. Observations of deformations in these faults suggest that the area
was subjected to east–west compression, which is consistent with previously known crustal
[11]
movements. Like other earthquakes recorded in western Japan between 1891 and 1948, the
1995 earthquake had a strike-slip mechanism that accommodated east–west shortening of the
[12]
Eurasian Plate due to its collision with the Philippine Sea Plate in central Honshu.
The Mj 7.3 earthquake struck at 05:46 JST on the morning of January 17, 1995. It lasted for 20
seconds. During this time the south side of the Nojima Fault moved 1.5 meters to the right and
1.2 meters downwards. There were four foreshocks, beginning with the largest (Mj 3.7) at 18:28
on the previous day.