It was Japan's worst disaster since World War II - the most deadly earthquake since a 1923 Tokyo quake that killed 140,000 people. But the Kobe earthquake was not just a physical earthquake. It was also a cultural earthquake because it called into question so many bedrock beliefs of the Japanese. Yet more than a Japanese tragedy, this was perhaps a preview of an even greater disaster since the heart of so many cities can be found on land ill-suited for similar or even more powerful earthquakes
