KOBE (Kyodo) With challenges remaining, Kobe and its neighboring cities Monday commemorated the 16th anniversary of the 1995 Great Hanshin Earthquake that left 6,434 people dead.
Some 5,000 people, including those who lost family members or friends in the disaster, gathered at a park in central Kobe to offer silent prayers at 5:46 a.m. — the time when the 7.3-magnitude quake devastated the port and its vicinity. Thousands of bamboo lanterns arranged in the shape of "1.17" were lit.
In a memorial address, Masae Ogawa, 47, who lost her mother in the quake, delivered a eulogy, reflecting on how her neighbors were involved in efforts to rescue her mother.