Earthquake

This natural disaster, also known as the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923, had a scale of 7.9 to 8.4 on the Richter scale. The epicenter of this quake was positioned south of Tokyo near Oshima Island in Sagami Bay. Many aftershocks occurred with epicenters identified between the coast of Sagami Bay and southern Boso isthmus.

Oshima Island is unruffled of lava and volcanic rock so it didn’t occurrence ground level changes or extreme shaking. On the other hand, Tokyo and Yokohama are built on softer soil deposited by rivers and with this volatility; there was heavier ground shaking and damage.

Damage Caused by the year 1923 at Great Tokyo.

The earthquake smacked at 11:58 local time in Tokyo just when many people were preparing lunch on charcoal or wood-burning stoves. During the quake, countless of these stoves toppled over and triggered fires that could not be forbidden. That is why this event is also known as the “Great Tokyo Fire of 1923”.

There were high air streams due to a typhoon striking northern Japan and this caused the fires to spread quickly and develop into firestorms in many cities. A firestorm occurs when intense fires create their own wind system.

The quake also broke water mains which meant there was a limited water supply for putting out the fires. Cities were reduced to debris and remains with the seaport of Yokohama suffering the worst damage where 90% of all homes were shattered or damaged.

Many homes built on hills and heaps were swept away by landslides. An outcrop collapsed in one village and pushed a parked passenger train plus the station and village structures into the sea below. There were just about 900 people killed as a result of these landslides.

A tsunami was generated and waves up to 30 feet hit the seashore of Oshima Island, Izu Peninsula and Boso Peninsula. Homes were packed down and flash deluge occurred. Over 150 people died as a result of the tsunami.

Many people boarded ships in Yokohama harbor in order to seek refuge but they were not conscious of oil seeping into the water. As the fires spread to the harbor, the oil wedged fire and many ships did not make it to the open sea.

In the Tokyo – Yokohama area, firestorms conflagration about 381,000 of the more than 694,000 houses that were incompletely or completely destroyed by the earthquake. Over 1.9 million people were left homeless in Japan. In Tokyo, 60% of the city’s population was left dispossessed. The estimated damage caused by the 1923 Great Tokyo Earthquake rehabilitated to today’s values would have been at least one billion U.S. $.

According to the U S Geological Survey, there were 142,800 deaths consequential from the 1923 Great Tokyo Earthquake including the firestorms, landslides and the tsunami.

As a result of this earthquake, Japanese structure standards for public buildings were changed based on studies of structures that remained standing. Tokyo was renovating with better transportation services and more parks were shaped as areas of place of safety.