Memories of Jan-17, 1995

January 17 would bring back harsh memories to those that lived in Japan in 1995 that day -when the killer earthquake devastated Kobe, and killed as many as 6,300 people in few seconds.

I still remember that day -it was a Tuesday. The previous Monday (Jan-16) was an MHI holiday and we had gone to Kobe, had lunch with Sampath family (BOI officer that lived near Motomachi), had dinner with Venkatesh-Uma family (P&G guy in Rokko Island), took the Sanyo train at Sannomiya Hankyu station at about 9:30 pm, and returned to Befu at about 10:30 pm.... having no idea that, in the next several hours, Sampath & Venkatesh families would be deserting their homes looking for shelters, and the Hankyu 4-storeyed building would be all in flames.....

It was 5:46 am in the morning. When I felt the SEVERE SHAKE at bed, I woke up and rushed to the balcony instinctively. (I was in 501 Sun Royal Arai, where Bhaskar Das lives in now). The lamp post on the street was banging on the building wall like monster pushed it across the wall. Sensing something extremely danger, took my 4 yr old son (Shibu) & wife (Vanishree) -they both were awake by then- and rushed out of my apartment. Shibu was asking "what's it? Looks like 'Never Ending Story' scene...". I saw the hall look like a riot-area -with the large wooden shelf moved out of its place with its door open & all the plates & cups shattered over the floor, the fridge had 'walked' a few feet, the kitchen top cabinet had opened spilling all the groceries kept in containers there.... we knocked at our Japanese neighbor's door. They let us in, and were watching TV to know the severity of the earthquake. That lady prepared 'ocha' for us, and her husband was getting ready for his work.

Indians in Befu & other areas talked to each other, and we didn't go to work as Sanyo trains got canceled. We started assembling at my apartment, and were glued on to TV -which started showing horrible pictures. When the TV announced the death toll as 150, we knew it was going to be a disaster for Japan. Tried to call our friends in Sannomiya, Akashi & Rooko Island -but no telephone was working in those areas. (There was no cell phone then). By afternoon, my neighbor prepared some obentos (lunch-packs) and started walking towards Kobe (30 km away)where one of her relatives was living in... (Most of the Japanese did so). All the Indian families in Befu spent that night in our apartment -501, Sun Royal Arai- and it was a sleepless night. Still scary were the aftershocks that followed every 20-30 min.(Aftershocks are minor tremors that follow after the 'main' earthquake) Aftershocks continued for nearly 2 days then. Nobody would know if the aftershocks would stop, or could extend into yet another major earthquake.... those shaking seconds were horrible. Life's uncertainty had never struck us this harsh before.....

Sanyo had by the next day resumed services in Himeji direction from somewhere near Akashi (Takinochaya, if I remember it right). We all went to work, but the aftershocks continued. Momentarily I decided to send my wife & son to India. As access to Osaka was disrupted, I re-booked for Hiroshima-Singapore for the very next day. Minutes before I was about to go to Befu station with them, Vanishree got adamant that she would not go, and she would stay in here with me whatever happens...............

I canceled the booking and we all went back to work. Ravi-Meena, friends of us who were in MELCO Kobe, had seen their apartment in flames, and were in a shelter for few days. Hearing that Kakogawa wasn't affected badly, they walked up to Akashi (about 30 km), and took the train to reach our place. They shared our apt. for several days. (When I met Ravi-Meena in California in Y2001, she said she never even stepped into their apt. after the earthquake even while moving -she never even wanted to recall those moments for a while). Toprani was in Akashi -his apt. lost power & water & gas. When he was in our apt with a number of other guys -Zakir, Nazia family- he got the news of the birth of his 2nd daughter, from India. Life cycle never stops..

Marist school (Shibu's school) saw the worst damage -with half of the main building gone. The present gym was converted into a refugee camp, and soups & noodles were prepared right there for the campers. There was no train service from Befu to Suma for the next several months. Even when it resumed, passengers had had to travel by bus a short distance in between which was totally affected.

The earthquake brought out several unique aspects of the Japanese society. TVs showed water lorries serving water to those in temp. shelters -thousands of people standing in Q patiently knowing well that it would be several hours for their turn to come. Almost all of them avoided driving private vehicles on roads leading to Kobe -to give way for ambulances and rescue vehicles. Banks had opened temporary ATMs near shelter homes. Kobe Shimbun -the Japanese daily -put back its machinery that was badly affected, moved them to another locality, and brought out the newspaper on the 3rd or 4th day -with a note that all of its staff had lost at least one of their family members. The Kobe City Office Utility Manager committed suicide after his failure to restore water services to the affected areas in the first 2-3 days.

After a couple of months I took my camera and went to Sannomiya. The whole Motomachi bazaar had fallen to flames. Sogo in Sannomiya junction was badly damaged, and looked like it was going to fall anytime. All the highways had collapsed. Repair had just started everywhere and the whole city looked like a war-affected area. Yes, it was a war staged by God on the innocent Kobe residents, I thought. I began to question the mercy of God, and wondered if 'that fellow' really deserved a capital G.......

Among our friends, Srinidhi, Kumar & Sundar were in MHI then. Srinidhi had just landed in Osaka airport exactly on that day -he managed to reach Harimacho by taxi. In fact, he was the only one who had first-hand experience of witnessing Kobe earthquake effects briefly after it struck. Later we learned that the epicenter was in Awajishima (but the Akashi bridge that was under construction was not affected), Kobe had intensity 6+, and Kokogawa had intensity 4. Two persons working in Befu port had died.

Years later -in 2004- shortly after my return to Akashi, I felt a 'minor shake' one day night when we were all sleeping. I woke up instantly and saw the thread attached to the light (to turn the light on/off) was swaying.... Without disturbing others, I got up, went to the hall, and turned on the TV in low volume. There was an earthquake somewhere, and TV showed intensity 1 in Akashi. That was nothing; we won't feel it if it occurs at daytime. Seconds later Deepika was standing behind me, asking me if there was anything wrong. "Nothing... Never again" I said.