KOBE: Japanese leaders vowed yesterday to help the world protect itself from disasters as the nation mourned the 6,400 people killed 10 years ago in the Kobe earthquake, saying the rebuilt city could become a beacon of hope.
Under a cold drizzle, mourners held up 6,433 candles, one for each person who died, and bowed their heads in tribute at 5.46am, the exact moment a quake of 7.3 on the Richter scale broke open the earth in 1995.
