Global health. The current scenario and future perspectives

292 Now then, what were its effects on global health? As we mentioned earlier, the uncontrollable collective panic was the most difficult component to manage and made it clear that there is a need to improve protocols for communicational management of emergencies and disasters. As a result, the most important globalizing effect was the response of the European Union, which developed the Seveso Directive s 53 , widely used in the industrial world. These regulations, especially the so-called “Directive III,” aim to have European countries identify potentially hazardous industrial areas and develop relevant procedures to mitigate and prevent harm to people and the environment. In summary, their objective is to establish a high standard of protection within the European Union. Today, these safety standards are universally applied. Kobe Earthquake The Kobe earthquake (Japan) reached a magnitude of 6.9 on the moment magnitude scale. It happened on January 17 th , 1995, in the southern part of the Hyōgo Prefecture and lasted for 20 seconds. The epicenter was located just 16 km below the surface, at the northern end of Awaji Island, 20 km away from the city of Kobe, which has a population of one and a half million inhabitants. This area is crossed by the Nojima fault, responsible for causing this earthquake (Kitamura et al., 1998). Around 6,434 people are estimated to have lost their lives as a result of this earthquake. Since Kobe was the closest city to the epicenter and fracture zone, it experienced stronger shock waves that reached an intensity of XI degrees on the Mercalli scale. It has been Japan’s worst earthquake since the Great Kanto Earthquake in 1923, which claimed 140,000 lives (UNCRD, 1995). Though Japan is one of the most advanced countries in seismic resistance technologies, this earthquake caused significant damage to public infrastructure like bridges, highways, railways and essential services. This damage can be explained by both shallow depth (only 16 kilometers) and proximity to its epicenter (20 kilometers). The numerous fires that broke out in different neighborhoods further hindered and slowed down authorities’ response efforts. What global consequences can be identified from this earthquake? Since 1995, this earthquake has been a permanent source of study to the 53 See: Original Seveso Directive 82/501/EEC; Directive Seveso II 96/82/CE; Directive Seveso III 2012/18/UE.