Cooke's Tale 7

　At 5:46 a.m. on January 17, 1995, a massive earthquake of magnitude 7.3 struck the southern part of Hyogo Prefecture, with its epicenter in the northern part of Awaji Island or off Tarumi Ward, Kobe City. This was the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake.（The first photo shows the Hyogo branch of Mitsubishi Bank on Mizuki Street in Hyogo Ward, which collapsed in the earthquake, and the second photo shows a bridge pier on the Hanshin Expressway No. 3 Kobe Line that buckled in the quake and overturned for about 600 meters.）

　At the time, I was living in an apartment in Tarumi-ku, Kobe City. At the moment of the earthquake, I felt a shock as if I was being pushed up three times by huge iron bars under the floor. After that, for about a minute, I was shaken sideways as if I were being swung around on a roller coaster. I didn't hear the sound of dishes breaking in the kitchen or furniture falling over. As soon as the shaking stopped, I realized that something terrible had happened, so I immediately turned on the radio.

　As it was a direct earthquake in an urban area, the damage to the buildings (especially the middle floors of the buildings) was enormous, along with the loss of lives. At the Kobe City Hall in Sannomiya, the sixth floor of the city hall collapsed, with the sixth floor sandwiched between the fifth and seventh floors. (Photo above)

　Even the waterfront area around the Port of Kobe was severely damaged.

　This photo shows the Meriken Wharf, destroyed in the earthquake and tsunami, which is still preserved today.

　On Port Island, where the Cooke Telescope was installed, the seawall was badly damaged. The gantry cranes used for transporting containers were all tilted. In addition, the liquefaction of the entire island was so severe that the ground dropped by 50cm.

　Sannomiya, just north of Port Island, recorded a seismic intensity of 7. Sannomiya, just north of Port Island, recorded a seismic intensity of 7, and Port Island and the Marine Meteorological Observatory also recorded a seismic intensity of 6. The Akashi Municipal Museum of Astronomical Science, which was located near the epicenter of the quake, was also severely damaged. The entire tower was cracked, and in the astronomical observation room on the roof, the Nikon 15cm refracting telescope fell over and was badly damaged, rendering it unusable. (Miraculously, the venerable Zeiss planetarium was unharmed.)

　Fortunately for us. The Kobe Municipal Science Museum for Youth did not collapse, and the Cooke Telescope was safe. The next photo shows the cracks left by the earthquake on the pillar concrete base.

　The Kobe Marine Observatory, where the Cooke Telescope used to be located, was partially destroyed, so it was moved to the Kobe Joint Disaster Prevention Office in 1999. In 2001, all the buildings of the former Kobe Marine Observatory were demolished. In 2001, all the buildings of the former Kobe Marine Observatory were demolished, and the Kobe Municipal Central Gymnasium was overflowing with relief supplies and evacuees. I wonder what would have happened if the Cooke Telescope had remained packed in the gymnasium. 

　Above is the astronomical dome of the Kobe Marine Observatory, which was damaged by the earthquake.

(References)

Weather in Hyogo - 100 years of watching the sky and the sea, Kobe Marine Observatory and Ministry of Finance Printing Bureau, 2001

Ocean Weather Observatory and Kobe Collection, by Yoh Nyoumura, Seizando Shoten 2010

Photo Album 150 Years of Kobe, Yasumoto Yamada, Jyurinsha, 2017