Up to 6,434 people lost their lives ; about 4,600 of them were from Kobe . Among major cities , Kobe , with its population of 1.5 million , was the closest to the epicenter and hit by the strongest tremors . This was Japan 's worst earthquake in the 20th century after the Great Kantō earthquake in 1923 , which claimed more than 105,000 lives
Great Kantō earthquake
1923 Great Kantō earthquake
Great Hanshin earthquake