More than 10,000 New Zealanders and 90 people from Japan, some teary eyed, stood in silence at a Christchurch park Wednesday while police officers and firefighters read out the names of all 185 people who died in a devastating earthquake one year ago.
The reading was followed by two minutes of silence at 12:51 p.m., the minute the magnitude 6.1 quake struck. It destroyed thousands of homes and much of downtown Christchurch, causing $25 billion in damage by the government's estimate. Family and friends of 24 of the 28 Japanese victims, who all died when the CTV building collapsed, were among the participants in a government-sponsored ceremony and offered a moment of silence. (Japan Times)
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