Fire history: Kobe earthquake and fire

On Tuesday January 17th, 1995 a 20 second earthquake measuring 6.8 on the Richter Scale occurred near the Japanese port of Kobe, about 500 km (311 mi) southwest of Tokyo. The quake killed more than 6,000 people, injured at least 30,000 and left more than 300,000 people homeless. More than 100,000 buildings were severely damaged or destroyed by the quake and the fires it caused. 148 separate fires destroyed 6,513 buildings. Several factors influenced the spread of fire immediately after the earthquake and in the days that followed. For example, many of the structures involved were built of lightweight wood...