KOBE -- A decade after the massive Kobe earthquake, there remains little visible trace of the damage to this port city.

Modern office buildings and houses dot the commercial and residential districts that were destroyed by the 7.3 magnitude temblor and it's all but impossible for first-time visitors to imagine the pile of rubble that Kobe became on the morning of Jan. 17, 1995.

The quake resulted in the loss of 6,433 lives, seriously injured more than 10,000 and left nearly 460,000 people homeless at one point.