Events mark 18th anniversary of Great Hanshin Earthquake
KOBE —
Events were held on Thursday morning to mark the 18th anniversary of the Great Hanshin Earthquake in Hyogo Prefecture.
The earthquake, which struck at 5:46 a.m. on Jan 17, 1995, killed 6,434 people in Hyogo Prefecture and neighboring areas.
A ceremony was held in Higashi Yuenchi Park in Kobe where lanterns were lit and placed in the figures 1.17 in memory of the victims. About 5,000 people, including survivors of the March 11, 2011 Tohoku disaster, attended the ceremony, at which prayers were offered for victims of both disasters. In a park in Itami, 6,434 candles were lit to honor the dead.
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-1
Disillusioned
It's pretty ironic that most of those who died in this quake died because of the structure of the traditional Japanese house. The heavy tile roofs that are used for typhoon protection are too heavy to be supported in a strong quake and the houses crumble. This is also why the death toll was so high because at 5:45am most people were sleeping. A very sad event.
0
Knox Harrington
Yeah, that early in the morning must certainly have made things more severe, right? Makes you wonder if a really big one would have hit Tokyo last Monday night or early Tuesday morning, with all that snowing, it would have been pretty bad if houses started falling over.
-1
Peter Payne
Very sad. I remember my wife beeping me on my "pocket bell" to tell me the news.
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JDB829
I lived in Wakayama at the time. Even that far from the center, it was a strong quake.
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