Destruction
September 1, 1923, started out as a normal day. People were doing their daily chores, going to work, shopping, and some were even waving farewell to the Empress of Australia who was concluding her visit to Japan. Unfortunately, as the morning was turning into afternoon, the day was turning from normal to catastrophic. “The first shock [of the earthquake] hit at 11:58 a.m., emanating from a seismic fault six miles beneath the floor of Sagami Bay, 30 miles south of Tokyo. A 60- by 60-mile segment of the Philippine oceanic plate ruptured and thrust itself against the Eurasian continental plate.[1]” The quake registered as a 7.9 on the Richter scale and of the hundreds of aftershocks that were recorded, nineteen of them registered as having a magnitude of 5.0 or higher.[2] This natural disaster is now known as the Great Kanto Earthquake and considered to be one of the worst earthquakes to hit Japan because of its high death toll and overwhelming amount of destruction.
The earthquake’s initial shock struck at 11:58 a.m., the time of day when most families were cooking lunch. In 1923, people were still cooking with fire stoves powered by coal. The quake shook buildings, streets and people, but it also shook the cooking fires and moved the coal embers to and fro igniting a massive fire. Two thirds of Tokyo was burnt to the ground, “some 40,000 mostly poor Japanese who were incinerated by a 'dragon twist,' a freak tornado of fire that swept over a makeshift camp ground near Tokyo’s Sumida River.[3]”
The City of Yokohama was leveled by the earthquake in addition to the fire and tsunami that resulted from the movement of tectonic plates. At the docks of this port city, hundreds of people had gathered to wave goodbye to the Empress of Australia who was concluding a visit to Japan. Writer Joshua Hammer retold the story of a young naval officer who was at the event, “‘The smiles vanished,’ remembered Ellis M. Zacharias, then a young U.S. naval officer, who was standing on the pier when the earthquake hit, ‘and for an appreciable instant everyone stood transfixed’ by ‘the sound of unearthly thunder.’ Moments later, a tremendous jolt knocked Zacharias off his feet, and the pier collapsed, spilling cars and people into the water.[4]”
The earthquake’s initial shock struck at 11:58 a.m., the time of day when most families were cooking lunch. In 1923, people were still cooking with fire stoves powered by coal. The quake shook buildings, streets and people, but it also shook the cooking fires and moved the coal embers to and fro igniting a massive fire. Two thirds of Tokyo was burnt to the ground, “some 40,000 mostly poor Japanese who were incinerated by a 'dragon twist,' a freak tornado of fire that swept over a makeshift camp ground near Tokyo’s Sumida River.[3]”
The City of Yokohama was leveled by the earthquake in addition to the fire and tsunami that resulted from the movement of tectonic plates. At the docks of this port city, hundreds of people had gathered to wave goodbye to the Empress of Australia who was concluding a visit to Japan. Writer Joshua Hammer retold the story of a young naval officer who was at the event, “‘The smiles vanished,’ remembered Ellis M. Zacharias, then a young U.S. naval officer, who was standing on the pier when the earthquake hit, ‘and for an appreciable instant everyone stood transfixed’ by ‘the sound of unearthly thunder.’ Moments later, a tremendous jolt knocked Zacharias off his feet, and the pier collapsed, spilling cars and people into the water.[4]”
[1] Joshua Hammer, “The Great Japan Earthquake of 1923.” Smithsonian Magazine, May 2011, http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/The-Great-Japan-Earthquake-of-1923.html#ixzz2YmoJju7f (accessed July 12, 2013).
[2] Mark Schrieber, “Hell on Earth in ’23,”The Japan Times, August, 26, 2001, http://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2001/08/26/general/hell-on-earth-in-23/#.UeFt9XAXdU1 (accessed on July 12, 2013).
[3] Joshua Hammer, “In Deadly Earthquake, Echos of 1923,” New York Times, March 13, 2011.
[4] Joshua Hammer, “The Great Japan Earthquake of 1923.” Smithsonian Magazine, May 2011, http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/The-Great-Japan-Earthquake-of-1923.html#ixzz2YmoJju7f (accessed July 12, 2013).
[2] Mark Schrieber, “Hell on Earth in ’23,”The Japan Times, August, 26, 2001, http://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2001/08/26/general/hell-on-earth-in-23/#.UeFt9XAXdU1 (accessed on July 12, 2013).
[3] Joshua Hammer, “In Deadly Earthquake, Echos of 1923,” New York Times, March 13, 2011.
[4] Joshua Hammer, “The Great Japan Earthquake of 1923.” Smithsonian Magazine, May 2011, http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/The-Great-Japan-Earthquake-of-1923.html#ixzz2YmoJju7f (accessed July 12, 2013).