Hanshin quake sparked changes to Japan’s disaster response policies

Three decades after the Great Hanshin Earthquake leveled Kobe and its surrounding areas, Japan has made significant changes to its disaster response policies and plans to create a new central government agency in 2026 to better respond when disaster strikes.

The magnitude 7.3 quake struck the Hanshin region of Kobe and Osaka, as well as the Awaji Island area, at 5:46 a.m. on Jan. 17, 1995, killing 6,434 people, severely injuring 10,683 and damaging or destroying 639,686 homes.

The devastation, with televised scenes of collapsed buildings and highways, shocked Japan and the world. Unprepared for the disaster, local authorities and the central government were initially slow to respond.