Earthquakes

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A Google street view picture with A Warning that The Building is not earthquake safe

The Japanese city of Hiroshima plans to Knock Down Two buildings that survived the 1945 atomic Bomb - But some locals want them preserved as landmarks.

The Two blocks - Built in 1913 - were first used as a and later as university student accommodation.

They were also used as a makeshift hospital After The Bomb itself.

"They could be used as facilities toward (promoting) the abolition of nuclear weapons," said one survivor.

Around 80,000 people were killed as a direct result of The Bomb , and another 35,000 were injured.

The Attack flattened most of The City , and - as of last Year - Only 85 buildings Built before The Bomb remained within five kilometres of "Ground Zero ".

The blocks survived, at least partly because they were made from Reinforced Concrete . Some Bomb damage to the metal windows and doors is still visible.

In 2017, authorities found the structures - Now publicly-owned - were highly likely to collapse in a strong earthquake.

And - as The Buildings are not in use, and are not open to The Public - The Local government decided they should be demolished by 2022.

A third building at The Site will be preserved, and its walls and roof will be repaired and reinforced to protect it from Earthquakes .

The atomic Bomb destroyed thousands of buildings in Hiroshima

Iwao Nakanishi, 89, was in one of The Buildings when The City was bombed. He is Now The Head of a Local Group demanding the preservation of The Buildings .

"Considering the historical significance of telling The Tragedy to The Future generation, we can no way accept the demolition," he told the Mainichi newspaper. "We strongly oppose it. "

Mr Nakanishi said The Buildings could be used to promote "the abolition of nuclear weapons".

In recent years, they have not been used - although visits were possible via The Local authority.

"These are valuable buildings that are telling us the horror of the atomic Bomb ," one 69-Year -old who visited The Site told Hiroshima paper Yomiuri.

"I felt strongly After looking at them directly for the First Time so I want all of them to be preserved. "

Hiroshima's most famous ruin from The Bomb is The Dome in The City 's Peace Memorial Park .

A Unesco World Heritage site, it has undergone reinforcement work to make it more earthquake Resistant .

The Ruin of the Genbaku dome is preserved as a memorial What happened in Hiroshima?

After Germany had surrendered in May 1945, Japan continued The War in Asia.

The US hoped that dropping a nuclear Bomb - After Japan rejected an earlier ultimatum for Peace - would force a quick surrender without risking US casualties on the ground.

The First Bomb , dropped on Hiroshima, killed an estimated 140,000 people in total, once long-term radiation illness was taken into account.

The Attack was the First Time a Nuclear Weapon was used during A War .

When no immediate surrender came from the Japanese, US forces dropped a second Bomb Three Days later, on The City of Nagasaki.

Japan surrendered six days later and officially brought about the end of World War Two .

japan

Source of news: bbc.com