On January 17, 1995 at 5:46 am, the city of Kobe was hit by the Great Hanshin Awaji Earthquake, resulting in the death of more than 5000 people and the destruction of tens of thousands of homes.
The Disaster Reduction Museum, part of the Disaster Reduction and Human Renovation Institution, was opened in 2002 to commemorate the tragic event and to educate visitors about earthquakes and disaster prevention.
The museum includes a large screen theater with realistic images of the earthquake's destructiveness, a documentary film about the recovery process, lots of information about the earthquake and various interactive games about disaster prevention.