Japan commemorates the 30th anniversary of the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake.

Today marks the 30th anniversary of the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake, which killed 6,434 people. A 7.3-magnitude earthquake struck the city of Kobe in western Japan and its surrounding areas at 5:46 a.m. on January 17, 1995. Its intensity destroyed more than 600,000 homes. Fires also broke out simultaneously, burning thousands of buildings. The disaster served as the starting point for Japan's disaster prevention efforts. However, challenges remain even after 30 years.

Keep the memory alive

Throughout the day, memorial ceremonies were held throughout the affected areas. In a park in Kobe's central district, thousands of lanterns were arranged and lit to depict the message “Yurisu,” which means “We will continue to stand with you.”

Organizers of the event say it also carries a message of continued support for survivors of major earthquakes in Tohoku and the Noto Peninsula.

One attendee says she came to the park to visit the memorial built in the wake of the disaster. She says that this helps her get closer to her mother, who was affected by the earthquake, and that she often asks her for advice during these visits.

The 1995 earthquake was linked to an active fault located directly beneath the city of Kobe and its surrounding areas, causing Japan's largest urban disaster in decades.

Another attendee says the earthquake survivors all struggled during the ensuing 30 years, including those who were children at the time. He added that he could definitively say they did their best in the aftermath.

However, one attendee said he feels sad when he sees people forgetting what happened. He stressed the need to make efforts to keep the memory of the earthquake alive.

Debt burden

During the three decades following the earthquake, more than $100 billion was spent on recovery efforts. In October, the last building included in the reconstruction projects was finally completed.

However, this has imposed a heavy financial burden on local governments in the region, including Kobe City.

Hyogo Prefecture and its 12 affiliated cities covered about $41 billion out of the total $104.3 billion spent on reconstruction. They financed about half of this amount by issuing municipal bonds.

The Hyogo government and 10 cities say they have bond debt of about $1.8 billion through the end of March 2024. The prefecture says it will take more than 10 years to pay off its debt.

The government, whose capital is Kobe, says its outstanding debts amount to $450 million, and it expects to continue repaying its bonds until the fiscal year 2040.

Life after the earthquake

Local governments are not the only ones suffering from the effects of the earthquake. NHK conducted a survey targeting residents in 12 hard-hit cities in Hyogo Prefecture.

Survivors were asked whether they spent more or less time thinking about their relatives or those close to them who died as a result of the earthquake.

More than 60% of respondents said there was no change in time, while nearly 5% indicated a slight increase.

The survey also found that 30 percent of all participants said they did not want to think about the earthquake, and 23 percent of those surveyed said they felt sad caused by their experience with it.

15% of participants said they still considered themselves earthquake survivors, suggesting that the sudden loss of loved ones in the disaster had long-term psychological effects on many survivors.

Professor Kimura Ryo from Hyogo University is an expert in disaster psychology.

Professor Kimura Ryo from Hyogo University supervised the survey.

He said that while people's lives and cityscapes in the affected areas appear to have returned to what they were before the earthquake, memories of the disaster still exist in the minds of survivors in various forms.

Kimura advised on how to help disaster survivors. He stressed that people should continue to provide support to them, while realizing that it may not be possible to accurately determine their psychological state from their physical appearance.

He pointed to a NHK poll that showed that 64% of participants who witnessed the Hanshin-Awaji earthquake feel that memories of the disaster and lessons learned are fading.

Kimura noted that earthquake memories are not something people should share lightly, but added that it is important to gather lessons from past disasters to help future disaster prevention efforts. He also said that governments, schools and media should work to create a framework to pass these memories on to future generations.

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