The fact the epicenter was 200 km offshore is why the shaking wasn't too destructive. The Great Hanshin earthquake was only 20km from Kobe. The distance from th

The fact the epicenter was 200 km offshore is why the shaking wasn't too destructive. The Great Hanshin earthquake was only 20km from Kobe. The distance from the epicenter is often overlooked by the media. PGV (peak ground velocity) is a more accurate way to estimate the strain put on infrastructure. This shakemap shows the preliminary recordings: http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/shakemap/global/shake/c0001xgp/ http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/shakemap/global/shake...