However, to this day, specialists say that Kobe was lucky. If the quake had struck 30 minuets to an hour later, the death toll would have been 50000. If the quake had struck any time between 8 am to 9 pm, the death toll would have been around 150,000 because of the crushed office buildings, the packed subway system, and the ever crowded streets and highways.

But for those who lost family, friends, and neighbors, no one felt lucky. The fear is engraved, and the sorrow is to remain.