What caused the Kobe earthquake in 1995?
This was an “inland shallow earthquake”. Earthquakes of this type occur along active faults. Most of the largest earthquakes in Japan are caused by subduction of the Philippine Sea Plate or Pacific Plate, with mechanisms that involve either energy released within the subducting plate or the accumulation and sudden release of stress in the overlying plate. Earthquakes of these types are especially frequent in the coastal regions of northeastern Japan. The Great Hanshin or Kobe 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. This 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
