Kobe skyline today. Photo by Harrison Kuo.
Moments of Fear
Eyewitness to the Great Hanshin Earthquake
By Wu Zun Min (Translated by Kirsty McCann)
In January of 1995, the author, Wu Zun Min, was living and working in Amagasaki as the Chief Journalist of a Kansai foreign student's newsletter called "China-Japan News". This is his story, as translated by Kirsty McCann.
1. Hellish Recollections: Having lived and studied in Kobe for close to five years, I feel very familiar with all the city's main buildings and roads. But now, all those hundreds of years of history which gradually built this quiet port town have suddenly been erased, leaving nothing but death and destruction. In less than a moment, hundreds of thousands of citizens were pushed, as though into hell, to the depths of despair. If I had not witnessed the event with my own eyes I would never have believed it. This cruel reality - not fiction nor myth - is one of great sorrow.
2. A Fearful 30 Seconds: In the early hours of the 17th of January, the Osaka and Kobe regions of Japan were as they always were of mornings - silent. Those who had taken advantage of the long weekend (Adult's Day, January 16th) to enjoy themselves, were tired and fast asleep in their beds. A new working week was about to begin in two or three hours. .....
I awoke to the complaints of an unbearable headache from my wife at around 5 o'clock (she had caught a cold three weeks earlier, and finally it had begun to improve over the last couple of days). I brought her some water and medicine, then turned out the light and went back to bed. The time was 5:20 a.m.
Just as visions of dreaming began to enter my head, a great noise came up from below, and suddenly I felt myself being violently shaken up and down, like a boiling egg. Before I could respond, I was thrown out onto the floor. At the same time, all the doors and windows began to rattle ferociously. Outside was pitch black, but mysteriously I could see a strange light coming from somewhere. Then the room started to shake from side to side. For twenty seconds, the vibrations became increasingly larger, as sounds of furniture falling, my wife screaming, and the rumbling noise from below, all echoed in my ears. All I could do was throw the rug over my wife's head, and cover my own with my hands. This moment was as scary as being thrown into the depths of hell. .....
I don't know how long we remained like that, but eventually the shaking did stop. I discovered later that it only lasted for thirty seconds, but at the time it felt much longer. I was so scared I didn't know what to do, but my wife calmly turned to me and said, "Grab the passports and let's get out of here!" In the panic, I couldn't find my precious glasses, as the electricity had been cut off. Thankfully, my wife found a flashlight so I was able to use it to search for them in the disarray. We escaped via the emergency exit and went outside. ..... The area was full of people, with a long line in front of a telephone box. My wife and I stood there, clutching our bag with the passports and a little cash inside, shivering in the cold winter air.
Gradually, dawn arrived. The wailing of ambulance sirens became more urgent and frequent. Bit by bit, I was able to guess the extent of the damage as the sun rose further. Trees and telephone poles on the opposite side of the road had fallen over, and most buildings were either leaning over or had completely collapsed. Fortunately, the Amagasaki Foreign Student's Dormitory where we lived was not so damaged. It was a miracle it had withstood an earthquake of such intensity.
3. Natural or Man-Made? - A Mysterious Three Days: After four hours of tidying up, we were eventually able to enter our room again. We picked the fragments of broken glass out of the tatami mats, and turned on the television. This was another miracle; Kobe, Ashiya, Nishinomiya and Southern Hyogo Prefecture were without gas, electricity or water for a long time; and many people were unable to drink clean water or have a bath for weeks. But in our building, the electricity was off for less than a day. We were amazed by the broadcasts we saw. The Kobe sky was filled with black smoke due to the hundreds of fires burning uncontrolled.
Major newspaper had dispatched crews in helicopters to film and report live coverage on the situation. And although fire engines had arrived at the scene, they were could do little except prevent people from trying to enter burning houses. The fires spread, carried by the wind, engulfing more houses and buildings. My heart ached as I thought of all the people who were trapped, unable to escape, destined to die among the flames. As my wife and I sat there on the tatami, we couldn't bear to look at the screen. I wanted to cry out, yet my voice refused; I wanted to stand but I couldn't. I sat there, tears streaming down my face. I couldn't understand how such a nightmare could become a reality in the developed nation of Japan.
The fires in Kobe city's Nada, Higashinada, Chuo and Nagata Wards continued for three days, during which over one hundred and forty hectares of land was destroyed. Eventually, water from the ocean was brought in to extinguish the fires, but it was too late - much of Kobe was ruined. The 250,000 people forced to shelter in around fifty refugee centers were now faced with the new challenge of having to survive without gas, water or electricity.
.....
Three days later, those who had lost their house and family returned to the scorched areas to search for remains and memories among the still warm ashes. Although I myself am not Japanese, it pained me to witness this. Articles in the Asahi newspaper criticized the government's initial response as slow and disorganized. .....
It may be said that some deaths were the result of government negligence. One Chinese man, Mr. Lin, was buried clutching his six year-old son when their house collapsed around them. Fifty-four hours later the Self Defense Forces arrived, but it was too late - the child's life had expired. Why didn't they come earlier? When even one hour could have made a difference, why were they so slow in coming? ..... I will never forget those three, senseless days for as long as I live.
4. To Kobe to Look for my Landlord: For three days after the quake, I lived through each day carrying a great burden of tension and unease. At night the aftershocks refused to wane, sometimes fairly strong ones of above M3 occurring more than once. In the first week, over seven hundred aftershocks were felt. My wife and I each packed an emergency bag, which we could grab and leave the house at even the slightest tremor. Sometimes we slept downstairs in the guest room, as it appeared to be relatively safe.
The days continued, full of nervous tension and uncertainty in the aftermath of the quake. But for me, there was another worry gradually increasing in my mind; the safety of Mr. Morita, our 74 year-old landlord. He lived in Nada Ward, one of the most damaged areas, including many houses which had been ravaged by the fires. I tried to ascertain their whereabouts, contacting the police, NHK, information hotlines - everything I could think of. But he was nowhere to be found. So, I decided to go and look for him myself.
On the morning of the 19th, after checking the air in my bicycle tires, I cycled into Kobe carrying food and water supplies my wife had prepared. Because most of the roads were broken up, and many people were walking into the city, it took me three hours to travel the distance which can usually be covered in less than twenty minutes. As I traveled through Nishinomiya and Ashiya city, I noticed the damage was gradually becoming more severe, with many houses reduced to rubble and debris everywhere. More than once I had to veer from my course to avoid the mess on the roads. I became one in a long line of many who were streaming into Kobe to search for their close friends. Most people were struggling with food and water, slowly approaching each of their destinations with anxious and worried looks on their faces, old and young alike.
I was surprised to see that although there was thousands of people in the procession marching to Kobe, travelling along narrow roads and enduring great masses of people, there was absolutely no pushing or shoving. At times when only one-way traffic was able to proceed, rules were observed - both cars and people alike tried their best to keep to the left-hand side of the road. I had always been aware of the claims of Japanese patience and good manners, but never would I have thought that in such a time as this, when most people had lost property, possessions and family to the earthquake, that such a state of mind would prevail. "Be patient and always try to avoid getting in the way of your neighbor." I was amazed by this maintenance of public peace and order.
I arrived in Kobe at l:00 p.m. When I finally found the place where my landlord had lived in for two years, I was amazed at the state of it. All that was left of that beautiful expensive two story house was the roof. The big pine tree in front, which I loved so much, had also fallen over. The apartment block over the other side of the road was also completely destroyed. It was obvious this area had been ravaged by a fire.
As my eyes took in the scene, my heart began to race. Was my landlord OK? I began to search. At last, I found a piece of paper stuck to a low wall, with a message written in characters I knew to be Mr. Morita's. "We are all OK, and have gone to Tokyo.” I cried with happiness and relief. Afterwards, I discovered that they had been buried inside the house for five hours until relief workers rescued them. The people living behind them, several students from Kobe University, had grabbed some fire extinguishers as soon as they themselves had escaped and put the fire out. When they had moved into their apartment, Mr. Morita had done all that was in his power to look after them. In the face of the earthquake, they were able to repay him for his kindness. When I heard this, I was really touched. It is comforting to know that in the threat of great danger, friends will unite with bravery to help those others who are less fortunate.
5. Epilogue: One month has passed since the earthquake. When I wrote this account of my experiences, I once again relived all my thoughts and fears. As of now, thirty days later, 5441 people are dead and 27,000 living in refugee shelters. But the city of Kobe is far from despair, and the citizens are doing their best to cope. Slogans of "Let's unite to rebuild Kobe" and “Fight, Kobe!" are to be seen everywhere.
Mr. Morita called me from Tokyo and told me he wants to build another apartment in the same place as before for the students who rescued him from his burning house. When asked how much it would cost, he replied lightly "Oh, not that much - no more than 80,000,000 yen anyway. Maybe I won't be able to return it all, but I have a son and a daughter, so its OK. Ha ha." His bright and intrepid voice echoed on the phone. When I heard that Mr. Morita had lost everything in the quake, I prayed for the fulfillment of his dreams with tears running down my face. If a country is blessed with such optimism and spiritual strength in its people, surely it can conquer any problem, and can create miracles too.
(Source - reprinted from http://www.lib.kobe-u.ac.jp/directory/eqb/book/16-47/eng/55.html )
Kobe skyline today. Photo by Harrison Kuo.