Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake Kills 6,434 in Kobe

A magnitude 6.9 earthquake struck Kobe at 5:46 AM on January 17, 1995, killing 6,434 people and injuring 43,792. Over 300,000 were left homeless. The earthquake destroyed 100,000 buildings and severed elevated expressways. Japan's emergency response was widely criticized as slow. The disaster spurred legal reforms empowering voluntary disaster response organizations. Kobe was rebuilt within years in one of Japan's largest reconstruction efforts.