Sunday marks the 26th anniversary of a devastating earthquake in western Japan
Tokyo … News Time
Sunday marks the 26th anniversary of a devastating earthquake in western Japan. The quake wreaked havoc and killed 6,434 people. The Great Hanshin-Awaji earthquake on January 17, 1995 damaged more than 600,000 homes and caused massive fires. At 5:46 a.m., people gathered in a park to mourn the victims of the 7.3 magnitude earthquake in the worst-hit city of Kobe. Lanterns in the form of 1.17 digits and the Japanese word Ganbarou were lit on the occasion. The term was chosen to refer to the concerns faced by the majority of the population during the global Corona virus epidemic. The lanterns were also lit half a day earlier to prevent crowds, including other measures to prevent infection. Celebrations are planned at several places on Sunday to commemorate the tragedy. But a survey by a local civic group found that the number of events scheduled for the global pandemic had dropped by 30% to 42 from last year. In view of the growing number of people who have no direct knowledge of the tragedy, passing on the memories of the earthquake and the lessons learned from it to the next generation is becoming a major issue.
