The Kobe earthquake in Japan 1995 struck at 5.45am. Many people were asleep in bed, causing the hazard to be increased because the people were unaware. Although many Japanese buildings were of aseismic design, the roofs of their houses were designed to withstand typhoons and so were very heavy. When the earthquake struck many people were crushed in their sleep. Also every year on 1st September Japan has national earthquake preparedness day to remember the 140000 that died in the Tokyo earthquake of 1923 but this did not help many of the citizens of Kobe. The Kobe earthquake was also in December so many people had nowhere to go in the middle of the night in winter and the risk of hyperthermia was extremely high. People were not put into temporary accommodation for up to two weeks after the event because the Japanese government originally refused assistance from foreign countries to help with the aid effort. The secondary effects of the earthquake like the gas leaks and fires killed 3000 people and many businesses were lost in the port. The Kobe earthquake shows that sometimes the wealthier countries can be just as badly affected.
The Icelandic volcano, Ejajjallajokall, affected many people around the world, both wealthy and poor. The airspace above much of Europe was closed meaning that a lot of trade with European countries had to be cancelled. In Kenya and Zimbabwe there were mounds of rotting fruit and flowers because they had nowhere to export them to and they lost a lot of much needed business. New Zealand’s exportation of salmon though improved because it was no longer in competition with Norway. Demonstrating how extensive globalisation has become and how the volcanic eruption affected the poorer countries as