Tohoku victims take part in ceremonies marking 17th anniv of Great Hanshin Earthquake
KOBE —
Victims of the March 11 disaster in the Tohoku region took part in events to mark the 17th anniversary of the Great Hanshin Earthquake in Hyogo Prefecture on Tuesday morning.
The earthquake, which struck at 5:46 a.m. on Jan 16, 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 tsunami survivors from Iwate and Miyagi prefectures, 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.
In Rikuzentakata in Iwate Prefecture, about 40 residents gathered at 5:46 a.m. around a “light of hope” given to the city by Kobe, TV Asahi reported. They offered silent prayers out of appreciation for support they received from Kobe after March 11.
One high school student said he prayed that Rikuzentakata would rise again like Kobe.
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5 Comments
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0
gogogo
I think the adverts for this earthquake information center on JT are very poor taste, seems like they are competing for sympathy and want to get people to attend?
Talk to "actual survivors" is not very considerate of the people that lost their lives less than 1 year ago.
1
zichi
Today, there were many events to mark the 17th anniversary of the 1995 earthquake. Personally, I think its time to end the official events which should have stopped after the first ten years.
0
Blair Herron
[The Great Kanto Earthquake (in 1923)(M7.9)(105,000 victims)]
*death by fire (87%)
[The Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake (M7.3)]
*death by crush (83%)
[The Great East Japan Earthquake (M9)]
*death by drowning (92%)
http://www2.ttcn.ne.jp/honkawa/4363f.html
0
ppokkiya
Being in a life or death situation, losing your home, or losing people you love in disasters is not the easiest thing to get over. If people can come together and find comfort with each other as they remember those hardships, then that's very good for them.
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