Great Hanshin earthquake in Japan, 1995, $100 billion
(Junji Kurokawa/AFP/Getty Images)
A monk prays amidst the ruins of a marketplace in Kobe, Japan.
Although the Great Kanto earthquake of 1923 was deadlier with 140,000 lives lost, the Great Hanshin earthquake of 1995 ranks as Japan’s costliest disaster. About 200,000 buildings were destroyed, mostly in the city of Kobe but also in Osaka and Kyoto.
