High school students from Sendai, a city hit by a massive tsunami in 2011, emphasized the importance of passing on disaster lessons to future generations and the significance of disaster prevention education during a meeting at the U.N. headquarters in New York on Wednesday.

¡°We are deeply grateful to people from around the world who supported us during the disaster,¡± 18-year-old Ruka Ogura, a student from Sendai Daiichi High School, said in a speech at the meeting to mark the 10th anniversary of World Tsunami Awareness Day.

¡°The city of Sendai now has a responsibility to pass the lessons and experiences,¡± said Ogura, who will serve as chairperson at the High School Students Summit on World Tsunami Awareness Day in Sendai on Nov. 27 and 28, a gathering that will bring together high school students from around the globe.

After Wednesday¡¯s meeting, Mitsuki Komatsu, a 17-year-old student from Sendai Daisan High School, said, ¡°I once again felt the importance of sharing disaster prevention information from people who have experienced disasters.¡±

Ogura said, ¡°I want to pass on the experience of my parents¡¯ generation to the next generation.¡±

On March 11, 2011, Sendai, the capital of Miyagi Prefecture, was hit by a massive earthquake and tsunami that struck other parts of the Tohoku region hard as well.