Tokyo, 17 January, /AJMEDIA/
The western Japan city of Kobe on Monday marked the 27th anniversary of the magnitude 7.3 earthquake that killed 6,434 people in the area.
Local residents and victims’ families observed a moment of silence at 5:46 a.m., the time the Great Hanshin Earthquake struck the port city in Hyogo Prefecture and neighboring areas on Jan. 17, 1995.
Just as last year, parts of memorial events were canceled or scaled back due to the coronavirus pandemic.
With more than a quarter of a century passing, the city faces the challenge of passing down the memory and knowledge of the calamity to future generations.
“We will learn from experiences and better prepare for disasters,” Kobe Mayor Kizo Hisamoto said.
