Tokyo, Feb 23 (IANS/EFE): A blanket measuring 464 square metres (4,994 square feet) stitched together by the victims of the earthquake and tsunami that rocked northeastern Japan in 2011 has entered the Guinness World Records 2015 as the largest one in the world, media reported Monday.

It was the initiative of German knitter Bernd Kestler, a resident of Yokohama, who in April 2012 asked people over the internet to send knitted squares measuring 20 square centimetres for a blanket that would provide warmth and comfort to those affected by the disaster, Japan's Kyodo agency reported.

In over two years, around 11,000 of the pieces have been stitched together to complete the blanket.

Kestler sewed the pieces with the help of disaster victims and volunteers at a gymnasium in Ishinomaki, in northeastern Miyagi prefecture, in September.

The blanket broke the earlier record held by a piece in Kuwait, which measured 306 square metres (3,294 square feet).

The huge blanket was later divided into smaller pieces and distributed among people living in temporary shelters constructed for those who lost their homes.

After entering the Guinness book, Kestler expressed his gratitude saying that he could never have broken the record without the help of the disaster victims, Kyodo said.