What happened during the Kobe earthquake?

The Kobe earthquake struck at 5:46 am in the Japanese coastal city of Kobe. It lasted about 20 seconds and registered as a magnitude 6.9 (7.3 on the Richter scale). The death toll was 6,434 people killed.

Why was the Kobe earthquake so destructive?

The main transport routes in the area closely parallel the shoreline of Osaka Bay, so many bridge pilings and bents were displaced, causing catastrophic damage to their supported structures. In the earthquake, damage to highway bridges was widespread, causing many deaths.