2.6. Recent Topics in Japanese Ports and Harbors

2.6.4 Southern Hyogo Prefecture Earthquake and Earthquake Resistant Port Facilities

1) Southern Hyogo Earthquake Overview
The Southern Hyogo Earthquake (The Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake) occurred at 5:46 am on January 17, 1995, bringing enormous suffering to the Hanshin and Awaji areas. The earthquake hit the Port of Kobe particularly hard, significantly damaging most of the large public quay walls and loading sites. The Port of Kobe was effectively paralyzed; this not only hurt distribution in Japan, but significantly affected international distribution as well.

2) Systematic Framework for Port Facility Reconstruction Support: Southern Hyogo Earthquake
The facilities at the Port of Kobe sustained enormous damage during the Southern Hyogo Earthquake of 1995. The Ministry of Transport, Kobe City and the Kobe Port Terminal Corporation supervised the reconstruction of public facilities, the cost of which reached approximately 570 billion yen.
One of the objectives outlined in the "Preliminary and Basic Policy for Reconstruction of' the Port of Kobe," enacted by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, Was the complete restoration of port functioning within approximately two years. The Earthquake Disaster Restoration Headquarters were established by the government (Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport) at one of the District Port Construction Bureaus under its jurisdiction to ensure that the restoration of the Port of Kobe was complete within this limited amount of time. Reconstruction 'was either directly controlled by the government or carried out in cooperation with related organizations and was completed within the two-year timeframe as scheduled.

3) Construction and Reinforcement of Facilities for Large-Scale Earthquakes
Ports and Harbors Bureau, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport enacted the "Basic Policy on Construction and Reinforcement of Facilities to Cope with Large-Scale�@Earthquakes in Ports and Harbors" in 1996 based on its experience with the Southern Hyogo Earthquake.