The Nojima Fault
and
The l995 Hyogoken Nambu Earthquake

　　The 1995 Hyogoken Nambu Earthquake,with a magnitude of 7.2 on the Richter Scale, occurred early in the morning of January 17,1995.
The earthquake, which originated about 14km below the Akashi Straight,caused extensive damage throughout the Hanshin area and the northen part of Awaji Island and killed more than 6,400 people.This earthquake is known as the Great Hanshin and Awaji Earthquake.

　　ln the of Hokudan on Awaji Island,the Nojima fault, which ruptured at the time of the earthquake, extends for about 10km from the northern most part of the island, where the Ezaki Lighthouse is located,to the Toshima area. The surface fault ruptures as you see in this pavilion demonstrate the enormous power of the earthquake.

　　The mountain side of the fault was laterally displaced to the right by l-2m.Vertical displacements varied along the fault；The ground on the sea side was uplifted by 20-40cm in the Nashimoto area, whereas in other areas the mountain side was uplifted by 50cm to 1.2m. These displacements appeared along the Nojima fault which was previously known to be active. This indicates that the Hyogoken Nambu earthquake was generated by the fault's reactivity.

　　Study of The Nojima fault is of scientific because it demonstrates how the ground behaved at the time of the earthquake. The fault has attracted the keen interest of Japane people. They are now interested in active faults and earthquakes,and have learned the neccessity of understanding active faults and, their likelyhood of producing large eanhquakes.Thus,just after the earthquake, the local government of Hokudan began repeatedly requesting that the surface rupture along the Nojima earthquake fault be preserved.

　　As a consequence,the Nojima fault Preservation Pavilion was constructed at Ogura in Hokudan Town to preserve the essential parts of the fault. From now on,the Pavilion will be used to make people better understand earthquakes,and caution them about earthquake disasters. This leaflet describes the ground features of the Nojima fault and the fault that formed immediately after the Hyogoken Nambu earthquake.