Victims Remembered 25 Years after Kobe Earthquake

January 17, 2020

Kobe- Prayers were offered in Kobe and neighboring areas on Friday to mark the 25th anniversary of the earthquake that devastated the western Japan region.

People renewed their pledges to pass the memories and lessons of the catastrophe on to younger generations in the country's new Reiwa era, which started last year.

About 7,500 people gathered at a park in the city's Chuo Ward in the early morning for a memorial ceremony, lighting some 5,000 bamboo lanterns that formed lines reading a Japanese word meaning "remember" as well as "1.17."

Bereaved families and other participants offered silent prayers at 5:46 a.m. (8:46 p.m. Thursday GMT), the time when the 7.3-magnitude earthquake struck the region on Jan. 17, 1995.

Speaking as a representative of the bereaved families, Yoshihiro Ueno, a 47-year-old sushi restaurant owner, expressed gratitude to his mother, who died in the disaster.

"I and my family will make every day count. Please be with us and thank you for supporting us every day," he said.

The earthquake measured the maximum 7 on Japan's seismic intensity scale for the first time on record, killing 6,434 people, injuring 43,792 others and damaging some 640,000 homes.

About 80 pct of the victims are believed to have died after being crushed under collapsed buildings or fallen furniture. This has prompted Japanese authorities to step up efforts to make buildings more quake-resistant. Jiji Press