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Many Japanese residents were among the attendees at the 10-year memorial service at the World Peace Bell in Christchurch Botanic Gardens.
The twin tragedies of the Christchurch earthquake and the Japan earthquake in 2011 are “stark reminders of human vulnerabilities to natural disasters”, Christchurch mayor Lianne Dalziel says. Dozens gathered at the Christchurch World Peace Bell for the 10-year memorial service of the Great East Japan earthquake on Thursday. In a message read out on her behalf, Dalziel said it was hard for people in Christchurch to imagine the totality of the magnitude 9 quake that struck off the coast of Japan’s Tōhoku region.
“It’s important we commemorate because it happened a short time after the Christchurch earthquakes,” Sinclair said, with New Zealand and Japan linked by the twin tragedies. Each country sent rescue teams to help the other, while the collapse of Christchurch s CTV building saw 28 English language students from Japan among the 115 dead.
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Japanese consul Masaya Tanigawa and Christchurch resident Asako Suzuki said it was important to remember the quake in Japan a decade ago. Japanese consul Masaya Tanigawa said the earthquakes in 2011 had created a strong connection between the two countries. Tanigawa was in Japan when the quakes struck but was very conscious of what was happening in Christchurch at the time.