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Hanna McCallum / Stuff
Many Japanese residents were among those attending the 10-year memorial service at the World Peace Bell at the Christchurch Botanical Gardens.
The twin tragedies of the Christchurch earthquake and the 2011 Japan earthquake are “stark reminders of human vulnerability to natural disasters,” says Christchurch Mayor Lianne Dalziel.
Dozens of people gathered at the Christchurch World Peace Bell for the 10-year memorial service for the Great East Japan Earthquake on Thursday.
In a message read on his behalf, Dalziel said that it was difficult for the people of Christchurch to imagine the entirety of the magnitude 9 earthquake that struck the coast of Japan’s Tōhoku region.
Hanna McCallum / Stuff
Dozens of people gathered at the World Peace Bell in the Christchurch Botanical Gardens for the 10-year memorial to the Tohoku earthquake in Japan on March 11, 2011.
The March 11, 2011 earthquake, also known as the Tōhoku earthquake, triggered a devastating tsunami up to 38 meters high, killing more than 15,000 people and leaving more than 2,500 missing 10 years later.
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Yet both disasters were “stark reminders of human vulnerability to natural disasters,” and the comparison of subsequent reconstructions was familiar, Dalziel said.
A “tale of two cities in recovery” could be told.
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Japanese Consul Masaya Tanigawa speaks at the 10-year Tohoku earthquake memorial service at the World Peace Bell in Christchurch Botanical Gardens.
“We have seen how disasters can bring people and countries closer together,” he said.
Each country sent rescue teams to help the other, while the Christchurch CTV building collapse saw 28 English learners from Japan among the 115 killed.
Many Japanese residents were among those attending Thursday’s ceremony in Christchurch.
Hanna McCallum / Stuff
The bell was rung by those attending the 10-year memorial service at the World Peace Bell in the Christchurch Botanic Gardens.
Christchurch resident Asako Suzuki said she was grateful to be able to attend a memorial service in Christchurch after losing friends to the tsunami in Japan.
Japanese Consul Masaya Tanigawa also spoke at the ceremony, reflecting on the ties that are established between the two countries.
“While we are in this quiet and thoughtful place in the beautiful Botanical Gardens, let us remember all those who lost their lives, their families and all those who have been affected by these natural disasters,” Tanigawa said.
Hanna McCallum / Stuff
Christ’s College students perform their award-winning waiata as part of the 10-year memorial service for the Tōhoku earthquake in Japan at the World Peace Bell in the Christchurch Botanical Gardens.
Christ’s College students also performed their award-winning waiata as part of the event.
The World Peace Bell had rung in Christchurch every year since the Tōhoku earthquake to remember those who lost their lives in the earthquake and tsunami.
Roy Sinclair, president of the association’s New Zealand chapter, said it was important to commemorate how New Zealand and Japan were linked by the twin tragedies.
