犠牲者の冥福祈る　中越地震２０年で追悼式―新潟

　６８人が死亡、４８０５人が負傷した新潟県中越地震は２３日、発生から２０年を迎えた。被害の大きかった同県長岡市で追悼式典が開かれ、参列者が献花や黙とうなどで犠牲者の冥福を祈った。
　式典には磯田達伸市長や地元住民ら約１００人が参列、献花台に花を手向けた。磯田市長は「この２０年間で学んだこと、記憶を次の世代に引き継いでいくことが大切。思いを語り継ぎながら、あすからの大きな活力につなげていきたい」と話した。
　大規模な土砂災害や道路の損壊などで全村避難を余儀なくされた旧山古志村（現同市）では、地震発生時刻の午後５時５６分に黙とうをささげた。（2024/10/23-20:01）

A memorial service was held Wednesday to mourn the victims of a powerful earthquake that hit Niigata Prefecture, central Japan, 20 years ago.
   Some 100 people attended the ceremony in Nagaoka, a city in Niigata that was hit hard by the Oct. 23, 2004, earthquake, laying flowers for the victims and offering silent prayers. The earthquake left 68 people dead and 4,805 others injured.
   "It's important to pass on what we've learned over the past 20 years and memories to the next generation," said Nagaoka Mayor Tatsunobu Isoda, who attended the ceremony.
   A silent prayer was held at 5:56 p.m., the time when the earthquake occurred, in the former village of Yamakoshi, now Nagaoka, where all residents were forced to evacuate due to a large-scale landslide and damage to roads.
   Local elementary and junior high school students and others sang two songs, including one to wish for recovery from a powerful earthquake that struck the Kobe area in western Japan in 1995.