Fire Safety Science Digital Archive

High levels of amplitude acceleration (300 to 800 cm/s²) and velocity (80 cm/s) were observed over a wide area at the time of the 1995 Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake. The locations where the fires started are almost uniformly distributed in areas where buildings suffered severe structural damage, mainly areas where the seismic intensity reached seven on the JMA (Japan Meteorological Agency) scale. Thanks to the weak winds at the time of the earthquake, the speed of the fire s p a d was far below that of past urban fires. Seven large fires that destroyed an area of more than 33,000 m² each broke out in areas with large concentrations of wooden houses. Most of the fire protected wooden buildings that caught fire did so mainly because fire spread through the building's openings, not through their walls. Most of the cease-burning lines in urban areas were wide streets, railways, parks and similar large spaces, rows of buildings of fireproof construction, and fire proof buildings constructed on large building lots. This confirms that it is extremely important to provide more space between buildings and improve buildings' fireproof performance in order to prevent the spread of urban fires following earthquakes.