Remembering the Great Hanshin earthquake

17 years ago, a powerful earthquake stroke the city of Kobe and its surroundings. It was at the time the most powerful earthquake to hit Japan after the Great Kantō earthquake from 1923 and remained recorded in history as the Great Hanshin earthquake. 6434 people lost their lives, the majority of them in Kobe (4571).

To commemorate the earthquake, in 2002 in Kobe was inaugurated the Earthquake Memorial Museum, a place where you can see images from that terrible time and you can learn about earthquakes and disaster prevention. Interesting information for me, since I live in a country that, like Japan, is threatened by earthquakes. The museum is also a memorial for the victims of the Great Hanshin earthquake and the date (January 17 1995), hour (5:46 AM), magnitude (7.3) and epicenter are engraved on the museum's building. The monument, which impressed me deeply, is completed by a pool of water surrounding the building and a number of black stone plaques...