Residents of the Japanese city of Kobe have been commemmorating the earthquake which killed nearly six-and-a-half thousand people in 1995.

During the night, candles arranged to show that date were lit in a central park -- each flame representating one of those who died in what was Japan's worst natural disaster for fifty years.

At the precise moment that the first tremor struck five years ago, the assembled crowd fell silent for one minute.

The BBC Tokyo correspondent says the anniversary has lost none of its sadness and poignancy: although much of Kobe has been rebuilt, the city's spirit has yet to revive.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service