The city of Kobe and neighboring areas on Thursday marked the 24th anniversary of the deadly Great Hanshin Earthquake, with residents and family members of the deceased remembering those that were lost and pledging to ensure that their stories and lessons learned from the disaster are passed on to future generations.
A moment of silence was observed at 5:46 a.m., the time the 7.3 magnitude quake struck the Hyogo Prefecture capital on Jan. 17, 1995. The temblor killed 6,434 people.
Almost a quarter of a century after the quake there are concerns that the disaster could be forgotten by people who didn't live through it.