pictures of the Kobe quake

 In the years gone by, I have lost some of these pictures… or they may in an evelope of pics in one of those boxes in the closet.

***

The earthquake shifted the building my apartment was in just enough to jam the door, that morning in 1995.  I had to force it open, and broke the door:

That is my second black cat, who adopted me a few weeks before this quake.  Apparently he fled the apartment and hid under a concrete bridge over the gutters on the main street; I didn’t find him for hours after the quake.  His name was Chance.

*

*

*

I was extremely fortunate:  the heavy roof tiles, for typhoon protection, slid off my roof instead of falling in… on me:

*

*

*

Before I cleaned up my street a little:

The building with the ladder leaning against it was my home.

*

*

*

My next-door neighbors were trapped in the wreckage of their place:

*

*

*

The backside of my neighbor’s place:

*

*

*

One of the saddest people in Kobe that day was this guy:

That is a very expensive Chevrolet Camaro Z28, under the apartment building that collapsed on it.

*

*

*

One of the main shopping areas downtown:

*

*

*

There, under the wreckage, is one of the five McDonald’s restaurants in Kobe in 95, destroyed:

*

*

*

What happens when a buiding falls on a vending machine

?

It gets crushed.

***

My experience was pretty horrible, but it’s nothing like the Haitians are facing, a year after their quake.  Japan was and is a First World Nation and Kobe has rebuilt itself so well that earthquake damage is rarely seen any more.

Portland, Oregon, where I live now, is subject to very strong earthquakes, off the coast, of intensity 9 or higher.  There are occaisions when I firmly regret having an 8th floor apartment… although, from what I’ve seen, the 8th floor is a lot safer than the 2nd or 3rd floors.  Maybe I can surf the wreckage down to the ground.

 

*****