KOBE, Japan, Jan 17, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - Thousands of people marked on Friday
the 30th anniversary of an earthquake that claimed more than 6,400 lives and
levelled much of the Japanese city of Kobe.

The 7.2-magnitude quake on January 17, 1995, sparked a major review of quake
preparedness in the island nation that suffers about one fifth of the world's
most powerful tremors.

Mourners observed a moment of silence before dawn at 5:46 am, the exact time
that the quake -- Japan's second deadliest since World War II -- struck the
port city.

"Whenever I see someone who looks like one of them, I feel it might be one of
them," a man who lost his mother and sister in the disaster told public
broadcaster NHK.

"I've been living like this for 30 years," he said.

The quake buried residents in thousands of flattened buildings and uprooted
highway overpasses and train tracks, while fires raged through collapsed
timber houses.

Heavy damage to the busy harbour area dealt a severe blow to Kobe's economy,
sparking a population exodus over the following months and years.

Japan experiences more than 1,000 earthquakes every year. The vast majority
are harmless but occasional large ones can still cause enormous damage and
loss of life.

In 2011, a 9.0 magnitude quake triggered a huge tsunami that smashed into the
northeast coast, killing around 18,000 people and sparking the world's worst
nuclear catastrophe in a generation.

The Ishikawa region is still struggling to recover from a huge New Year's Day
earthquake last year that killed around 500 people and destroyed houses and
infrastructure.
- 'Megaquake' -

This week, government scientists marginally increased the probability of a
vast "megaquake" along the undersea Nankai Trough over the next 30 years to
75-82 percent.

Such a jolt could potentially have a devastating 8-9 magnitude, trigger
colossal tsunamis, kill several hundred thousand people and cause billions of
dollars in damage, experts say.

Over the past 1,400 years, megaquakes in the Nankai Trough have occurred
every 100 to 200 years, according to the government. The last one hit in
1946.

Despite the ever-present danger and frequent emergency drills, authorities
face a constant struggle to maintain public awareness and readiness for a
major jolt.

A recent NHK survey among 1,269 people who experienced the Kobe quake showed
that over 60 percent of respondents think "the memories and lessons are
fading".

"We need to pass on experiences and lessons to the future also with
participation by younger generation people who were born after the quake,"
said Motohiko Saito, the governor of Hyogo Prefecture where Kobe is located.

Emperor Emeritus Akihito and Empress Emerita Michiko attended a memorial
ceremony in the city, one of several events that took place throughout the
day.

The couple on Thursday met with people who experienced the disaster and
Akihito told one of them "it must have been very hard," private national
broadcaster TBS reported.