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Based on the Cabinet determination, the Japanese Government established
on January 17 the "Southern Hyogo Prefecture Earthquake Headquaters for Major
Earthquake Disaster Countermeasures" with the Director General of the National
Land Agency as the head. In order to implement urgently integrated and overall
measures by the government, the "Emergency Task force for the Southern Hyogo
Prefecture Earthquake" was established on January 19 with the Prime Minister
as the head and all other cabinet members as its members.
As part of these actions by the government as a whole, the Ministry of Transport
established the "earthquake disaster counter measure office" at main office
of the Ministry, Maritime Safety Agency and Meteorological Agency and their
local offices concerned to engage in relief activities for sufferers from the
earthquake and establishment of the system to deliver emergency relief goods
to stricken areas and organization of transport means by detour railway transport
and substitute bus.
Enterprises in the transport industry and their industry organizations carried
out relief activities for sufferers and emergency delivery of relief goods and
goods for rehabilitation from the disaster.
(1) Grasping the situation of damages Immediately after the earthquake,
the Maritime Safety Agency conducted the survey on damages at Kobe Port and
other using the patrol vessels/craft and aircraft operating in Osaka and Kobe
areas.
On January 17, main office of the Ministry of Transport dispatched officers
in charge from various divisions concerned in the ministry for field surveys
to grasp in details the situation of damaged areas. At the same time, necessary
instructions were given to initiate rehabilitation works urgently for various
facilities of railways, ports, etc. which were required for emergency transport.
(2) Measures to prevent the secondary disaster
The Maritime Safety Agency made cooperation for measures taken to prevent
disaster by leak of gas from cracked LPG tanks as well as activities to extinguish
fires at burning warehousing facilities. The agency conducted investigations
on the situation of the topographic change of the faults at the hypocentral
region at the bottom of the sea. In addition, as it was of concern that many
empty containers discharged into sea and drifted would cause danger to marine
traffic, the agency designated part of the port as the area of prohibition of
sailing and anchoring. The agency also engaged instantly in emergency rehabilitation
of light house facilities at Kobe Port, Awaji Island, etc. to secure the safety
of marine traffic.
The Meteorological Agency dispatched field survey teams to con-duct detailed
field surveys and installed seismic intensity meters to observe aftershock at
five places including Tarumi-ku of Kobe City.
As such a major earthquake as this generates cracks to the ground which
are apt to cause landslide with rain, detailed meteorological information on
rain, wind and temperature was reported and announced on appropriate occasions.
At the end of March, in order to strengthen the observation and monitoring
the rainfall, the agency installed wired robotized pluviometers at three spots
in Tarumi-ku of Kobe City and other. In order to strengthen the system of observation
and monitoring of after-shock at peripheral areas, seismic intensity meters
were located newly on 20 spots.
(3) Relief activities
The Maritime Safety Agency urgently dispatched patrol vessels/craft and
aircraft to Osaka Bay from the rest of Japan. It started transport of relief
goods on January 17 and engaged in transport of relief goods from Kansai International
Airport to Kobe Port by patrol vessels/craft and carrying of emergency cases
by helicopters (Picture 3, Table
4).
Furthermore, state-owned land under the jurisdiction of the Civil Aviation
Bureau and land owned by the Japanese National Railways Settlement Corporation
was offered for use as bases for rehabilitation such as sites for housing for
victims, places for disposing rubble and bases for delivery of goods. Apartment
houses owned by Organizations for Environmental Improvement Around Airports
were offered as dwelling for victims.
On the other hand, in the private sector, organizations of hotels and ryokan
(Japanese-style inns) mainly located in the Kinki District presented to the
local governments hotels and ryokans which victims could use at discount rates
and were granted free bathing tickets for common use in local areas. Organizations
of bus companies provided services for free use of buses between places of refuge
and public baths and baths established by the Self-defence Force.
Marine transport businesses whose headquarters are located in the Kinki
District offered free of charge containers for temporary dwelling and refrigeration
containers for storing relief goods. At Kobe and Tsuna ports, etc. passenger
boats were provided for use as baths and temporary lodgings.
(4) Establishment of emergency transport system
At the stricken area, the necessity for water, foods and medicines became
mounted and it became necessary to secure these goods in great quantity and
to transport to the stricken area.
In order to meet these necessities, the Ministry of Transport requested
cooperation for implementation of smooth transport operations on land, sea and
air from Japan Trucking Association, Japan Federation of Coastal Shipping Associations.
All Japan Air Transport and Service Association. In conformity with the request,
the following support activities were carried out.
･ Trucking companies all over Japan engaged in transport of emergency assistance
goods such as necessities for life. Trucking companies in the local areas concerned
cooperated to the utmost for transport in their areas, and trucks and personnel
were dispatched from trucking associations in the neighborhood.
･ Air transport businesses transported assistance goods such as foods, blood
for transfusion, water purifiers, etc. From January 20, emergency transport
of foods and other goods were made by civil helicopters.
･ Some Japanese and foreign companies in the air transport business offered
cargo aircraft and helicopters to the Japanese government to use for the emergency
transport.
･ JR Freight and transport firms using railways transported foods and others
after January 20.
･ Private marine transport companies carried medical goods, foods, drinking
water, etc. with their ferries and other.
In addition to these, emergency transport was carried out in collaboration
of the national government, local governments and transport-related businesses.
As an example, a route was established and through this route the emergency
assistance goods which were requested by a public organization were carried
free of charge by aviation companies to Kansai International Airport, then to
Kobe Port by patrol vessels/craft, etc. of the Maritime Safety Agency and finally
to the disaster counter measure office by trucks arranged by the prefecture.
The Ministry of Transport adopted flexible procedures for permission for
helicopters to land and take off at places other than airports and established
a shuttle transport system between seven spots in Osaka Prefecture and Himeji
City, etc. and 17 spots in the stricken area.
(5) Maintenance of order of transport
The Ministry of Transport engaged in monitoring to prevent taxis illegally
claiming unduly high fares and made such disposal as suspension of use of vehicles
to those engaged in illegal business.
Furthermore, the Ministry of Transport requested the related business organizations
not to adopt the follow-up raise of the freight of domestic marine transport.
(1) Background for the substitute transport
It was of concern that immense damage was caused to transportrelated facilities
such as railways, ports, expressways, etc. by the earthquake and great effects
would be exerted on people's lives and industrial activities not only in the
stricken area but also nation-wide.
Under the situation, efforts were made to secure emergency transport routes
by means of making bus routes as substitute for railways, establishing temporary
routes for passenger boats, providing temporary flight services, etc. It was
endeavored to hasten the rehabilitation of collapsed railway and port facilities,
etc.
(2) Substitute transport of passengers
(i) Service of bus as a substitute for railways
In the sections where the railway was interrupted, the service of bus as
a substitute for railway started on the following day of the earth-quake. Starting
with the service of a substitute bus between Itami and Tsukaguchi on January
18, the bus service was carried out in 13 sections (Table
5). Especially between Osaka and Kobe, the exclusive bus lane was established
on National Highway N0.43 in collaboration with the police and road management
body and non-stop shuttle bus services were provided between the starting and
destination stops. The services of substitute buses in these sections exceeded
4,000 buses per day at the peak and carried approximately 230 thousand persons.
In the same sections, approximately 940 thousand passengers were carried by
rail-ways before the earthquake.
In order to secure the route to substitute the section between Shin-Osaka
and Himeji stations on the Sanyo Shinkansen line, a bus route between Himeji
Station and Sanda via the Chugoku Expressway and an average of 33 buses were
operated per day to carry 1,370 persons. To include the time for the train between
Sanda and Shin-Osaka, it took 2 hours and 10 minutes.
The substitute transport by bus continued by changing routes depending on
the situation of rehabilitation of roads in each section. The transport was
reduced gradually in accordance with the development of rehabilitation of railways
and with the overall rehabilitation of railways on August 22, this service terminated.
(ii) Substitute transport by sea routes
As one of substitute transport means for railway passengers, 12 routes were
opened temporarily between Kobe and Osaka, etc. in addition to utilization of
existing route (Fig. 5).
At the maximum, 78 round cruises were made on all routes per day and approximately
24 thousand passengers were carried per day. Passengers carried totalled approximately
700 thousand until the end of May.
The required time was approximately 30 minutes for the route of Kobe (Takahama)
and Osaka, etc. and 40 minutes for the route of Kobe (Meriken Park) and Nishinomiya.
(iii) Roundabout routes of JR railways
As the sections between Shin-Osaka and Himeji of JR Sanyo Shinkansen, Amagasaki
and Kobe of the Tokaido Line, and Kobe and Himeji of Sanyo Honsen line were
totally interrupted, roundabout routes for railways were opened (Fig.
6) after January 23, in addition to the substitute bus transport, and a
transport means by railway services was secured.
For these services, the Kakogawa line route (utilizing the Kakogawa and
Fukuchiyama lines), Bantan line route (Bantan, Sanin, and Fukuchiyama lines)
were used. While, ordinarily, it takes 35 minutes on the Sanyo Shinkansen line
for the section between Himeji and Shin-Osaka (92 km) and I hour and 40 minutes
on the conventional line, it took 2 hours and 45 minutes for the distance of
149 km on the Kakogawa line route.
For the Bantan line route of 214 km, the required time was approximately
3 hours and 20 minutes.
As all sections of the Tokaido line were resumed on April I and the Sanyo
Shinkansen line on April 8, the roundabout routes ended their role.
(iv) Substitute by aircraft
As the Sanyo Shinkansen line was suspended, as its substitute, a total of
3,672 temporary shuttle flights were serviced from January 17 to April 14 between
each of Hiroshima, Okayama and Fukuoka and each of Tokyo. Osaka and other. As
a total of 1.05 million passengers were carried, the number of passengers departing
and arriving at each airport increased sharply (Table
6).
At Osaka International Airport, after consultation with the local community,
the time for flight schedule for temporary flights was prolonged from 09:OO
p.m. to 10 :OO p.m. and between February 7 and April 14, 2 to 4 temporary flights
per day were serviced at this time belt.
At the early stage of introduction of this temporary flight service, many
flights were almost fully occupied but since the resumption of the Sanyo Shinkansen
line on April 8, the load factor dropped sharply and the temporary flight services
finished on April 14.
(3) Substitute transport of cargoes
(i) Substitute transport by domestic cargo vessels
As a substitute for trucks and trains which could not pass through Kobe
due to the interruption of roads and railways, domestic cargo vessels arranged
urgently were used on marine transport routes to transport steel materials,
automotive parts, etc.
(ii) Substitute transport by aircraft
Due to the interruption of roads and railways, cargo was carried by aircraft
between east and west Japan. Especially, demands increased in cities further
west of Osaka with Haneda Airport as departing and arriving port including such
routes as Haneda-Hiroshima, Haneda-Okayama, Haneda-Fukuoka, etc.
As a result of lowered functions of Kobe Port, in some cases, the transport
of light-weighted and high value industrial parts destined for plants in Southeast
Asia, such as semiconductors, liquid crystal displays, parts for precision machines,
etc. was shifted from ocean-going shipping to international aviation.
(iii) Substitute transport for railway cargo
Due to the interruption of the Tokaido line, substitute transport was conducted
for containers by trucks and domestic cargo vessels. Furthermore, the roundabout
route was established via the Fuku-chiyama, Sanin and Hakubi lines on February
11. The transport capacity on the roundabout route in February was only 2% of
the normal capacity on a daily average but it increased to 26% of the normal
capacity as a result of substitute transport otherwise established.
Regarding special commodity in the interrupted sections, the abovementioned
roundabout routes were used from March 4 and the roundabout route via the Bantan
and Sanin line was opened on March 14 (Fig.
7).
(4) Substitute of functions of Kobe Port by Osaka and other ports
Damage to Kobe Port forced the ports of export and import to change for
a great quantity of cargoes and it became necessary to use not only Osaka Port,
Sakai Senhoku Port, etc. in the vicinity of the stricken area but also other
major ports in Japan as substitute ports for Kobe.
Under such circumstances, the Ministry of Transport, with an attempt to
minimize the effects on the Japanese economic activities and people's living,
requested management bodies of other major ports in Japan to cooperate to substitute
the role which had been played by Kobe Port.
At major ports of Japan, in order to secure smooth physical distribution,
a council consisting of members from administration organizations such as the
port management body, customs house, etc. and business representatives such
as the association of harbor transport companies association of warehouses,
and port workers trade unions, etc. was organized. The council made arrangements
for securing container yards and chassis pools for temporary use, effective
transport of cargo to be shifted from Kobe Port. At the same time, arrangements
were made to enable workers at Kobe Port to temporarily engage in stevedoring
works at other ports.
On the other hand, shipping companies which had used Kobe Port unloaded
cargoes from their vessels, as an emergency measure, at the nearest Osaka Port,
etc. In addition to utilization of the provisional use quay-walls which are
restored with slight repairing, there were cases in which assignment of vessels
was made to other ports by routes. It is assumed that those companies will return
to the state before the earthquake examining the situation of rehabilitation
at Kobe Port.
Of the cargo scheduled to be unloaded at Kobe Port in the period from January
17 to 31, approximately 50% was unloaded at Yokohama Port and approximately
20% respectively at Tokyo Port and Osaka Port (Fig.
8). The number of vessels entering each port in February and March recorded
a sharp increase compared to the same months of the preceding year, eg, 2.4
times for Osaka Port (Table 7).
At major ports such as Osaka and Yokohama ports, stevedoring works were
carried out on Sunday and at night in order to accept cargoes which had been
shifted from Kobe Port (Table 8).
For domestic container cargoes, mainly Himeji Port and Higashi Harima Port
were utilized as substitute ports for Kobe. As cranes for containers have not
been installed at these two ports, truck cranes were utilized for stevedoring.
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