The city of Kobe and neighboring areas in western Japan on Wednesday marked the 23rd anniversary of a magnitude 7.3 earthquake that claimed the lives of 6,434 people, with many vowing to pass on lessons learned from the disaster to future generations.

Survivors and residents braved the rain to observe a moment of silence at 5:46 a.m., the moment on Jan. 17, 1995, when the Great Hanshin Earthquake struck the port city west of Osaka, devastating the area.

At a memorial event held at a Kobe park citizens lit some 7,000 bamboo lanterns arranged to spell out the date of the disaster, along with the kanji character that means "passing on" — representing the wishes of the city's residents that victims are not forgotten.