Feature
One year from that big earthquake
Document: the history of Kobe University 1995

Professor Shigeru Yasuda of the Faculty of Agriculture experienced the earthquake while he was staying up all night in his office. With the sudden tremor, he crawled under the desk. The electricity failed, the aftershock stopped and when he saw the dim room, he found bookshelves made of steel blown off the walls, and the books and glass were scattered everywhere. He said, "It was very dangerous because the shelves fell down where I was taking a nap." Out of the window he saw a fire in Kobe City.

photo: TV hookup by the helicopter reported the fire in Rokko-cho, Nada Ward. It shoots the beach side from the residental area. Under the time signal is JR Rokkomichi Station. The fire can be seen where apartments close together. Shot on 8:50 a.m. Jan.17,1995. NHK television

At 6:05 a.m., the first patient was carried into the Kobe University Hospital. He had a trauma to the head. From 6:30 a.m., emergency patients rushed to the hospital. (from the records of the Faculty of the Medicine)

At 6:58 a.m., Mr. Kuroda, the Managing Director of the General Affairs Department, reached the Administration building from his house in Takao-cho, Nada Ward. He began to assess the damage to the University. He was afraid if there was fire in the study rooms or someone might be in the building or the Hospital. He could not easily make contact with the then President Suzuki in Osaka.

At 9:00 a.m., Professor Yasuda met his collegue in front of the door of the building of the Faculty of Agriculture. In a daze he looked at the fog which covered the sky. When he walked around the university, he saw a lot of water pouring from the broken pipes, and there was the smell of gas and ethye. (Reference from "The record of 100 days from the earthquake .")

Before 9 a.m. our reporter Tsutomu Motooka, looking for his friends with his mates in the dormitory, arrived at Nishio-so apartments in Rokko-cho, Nada Ward.
The first floor was crushed by the second floor down on the ground and the glowing fire was just 10 meters behind the wreckage. There were three people left in it, but there is nothing they can do. "Why...why(do we have to have such a disaster)?" an old lady cried out. About 15 Kobe University students just stood in silence. No fire engine arrived.

photo: Reading room of the Library for Cross-Cultural Studies and Liberal Arts on the second floor was messed up.
the Library for Cross-Cultural Studies and Liberal Arts

Before 9 a.m. Mr.Nishida ,the manager of LANS BOX(the Kobe University Co-op store south of the Faculty of Letters), arrived at his shop with anxiety. More and more students came to the campus and started gathering around the store. The vending machines had all stopped because of the electricity failure and the water supply had also stopped, so all the shops there started selling groceries separately. Most sweets and bottled drinks were sold out before 10:00 a.m..

At about 9:30 a.m., Mr. Kumagai, the head administrator of the Library for the Humanity and Social Sciences, arrived at the library and saw the mess. Many bookshelves and books in them had fallen down on the floor.

At about 9:40 a.m., Mr. Kuroda, the Managing Director of the General Affairs Department, called the Ministry of Education on the phone. "No casualties on the campus. No fire. No patients in the Hospital are injured." But the telephone line to the Research Center for Inland Sea, close to the epicenter, seemed shut off.

Photo: Hanshin Expressway was destroyed Fukae Honmachi, Higashinada Ward. Taken on 9:30 a.m. Jan. 17,1995.NEWS NET

[The first report from the NEWS NET]
As a result of the Great Hanshin Earthquake at 5:46a.m. on Jan. 17, about 300 students and neighbours were shelterd in Kobe University. No buildings on the campus were damaged.
Electrical power was restored by emergency-generators and the water supply was on at Rokkodai until the next day. There were some people wandering around with buckets or pet bottles in their hands, seeking water. Many laboratories and libraries were in shambles with fallen bookshelves and books everywhere.
A few minutes past 9 a.m. the LANS BOX opened with books and groceries scattered on the floor. A calculator was used for the cash register. Students and neighbours were desperate for instant noodles and sweets for their supply. The long queues for the public phones nearby were up to an hour long.

Photo: Emergency medical treatment at the corridor started in the Kobe University Hospital. the Faculty of Medicine


"I hid myself under the desk, then the sheves on both sides and the computers fell."said the man who was on the 7th floor of the building of the Graduate School of Science and Technology. "The house collapsed and I was hanging on the pillar for as long as an hour." "I was trapped inside the collapsed house and rescued 4 hours later." cried the students who had lived in two-storey wooden apartment houses.

Before noon, staff who gathered on the General Affairs Division floor of the administration building established 'the Head Office for the Earthquake in Southern District of Hyogo Prefecture in Kobe University'.

The number of students and neighbours shelterd in the Co-op Cafeteria reached 200 in the late afternoon . "More and more people arrived from the lower part to the campus on the hill. Most of them were elderly and their families. They all stayed in the cafeteria which had enough elecricity and heating. We sold as much pork buns and rice balls as we had." said Mr. Tanaka, the manager.

Photo: The Head Office for the Earthquake in Southern District of Hyogo Prefecture in Kobe University was set up at the Secretariat. They hurried to confirm the safety of students and staffs. Taken on Jan. 28, 1995.

[Attention](If there is no credit, the information is according to the head office of Kobe University, Ryoso Party(graduates' association) materials, Universiy News Network Kansai etc.)