Kumamoto remembers string of strong earthquakes 2 years ago

April 14, 2018

Kumamoto- Kumamoto Prefecture held a memorial service on Saturday for those who died in a string of powerful earthquakes that hit the southwestern Japan prefecture and nearby areas two years ago.

The earthquakes, which occurred from April 14, 2016, directly killed 50 people, including through building collapses, while 214 people have died of indirect causes including disease from prolonged evacuation life, according to prefecture.

The second-anniversary ceremony was attended by a total of 319 bereaved relatives, prefectural officials and others.

The participants offered one-minute silent prayers for the victims, and renewed their pledges for reconstruction.

"For my family, the first step of recovery from the earthquakes is to rebuild our house," Ryoko Matsuno, 61, said in a speech during the ceremony.

In the disaster, she lost her mother, Misuko, then 84, and her family's house in the town of Mashiki was destroyed. Matsuno is still living in a temporary housing facility in the nearby city of Koshi. Jiji Press