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The Great Kanto Earthquake

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The Great Kanto Earthquake

In September 1923, Tokyo became a hell on earth. In less than three days, an earthquake and subsequent conflagrations reduced nearly half of Japan’s capital to a blackened, rubble-filled, corpse-strewn wasteland of desolation. The areas affected were Tokyo, Kanto, The Kanto Plain, Yokohama, as well as the surrounding areas. The Great Kanto Earthquake is considered one of the most shocking natural disasters to occur during the 20th century. The unexpected disaster struck Tokyo at 11:58 am, which was around the time families were gathering around the table for lunch. Most workers went home after a short day at work and for students it was their first day back at school after a long summer break. The disaster caused …show more content…

This was identified with a GIS analysis for earthquake catalogue of the Japan Meteorological Agency. The subduction zone created by the intersection of these two plates sits roughly 100 km south of Tokyo virtually bisecting Sagami Bay. Movements associated with these two tectonic plates triggered the 8.2 magnitude approximate Genroku Earthquake of 1703 and the 7.9 magnitude approximate Great Kantō Earthquake of 1923. Recent scholarship suggests that Tokyo is vulnerable to earthquakes triggered by the movement of yet another tectonic plate or “dislodged plate fragment” located directly beneath the Kantō Plain upon which Tokyo and approximately 33 million people reside today There was a rupture of part of the convergent boundary where the Philippine Sea plate was subducting (a plate going under another). The main shock occurred beneath the eastern half of Tanzawa Mountain (mountain range in the Kanto region). Japan is located on the conjunction point of four main tectonic plates; the North American, Pacific, and Philippine Plate. The epicentre of the Kanto Earthquake was under Sagami bay, a beach south of central japan. This earthquake also caused fires amongst
The houses, resulting in a firestorm that killed 38,000 people in just 15 minutes. Large earthquakes such as this one usually occur at or near plate boundaries, meaning Japan is very prone to earthquakes. A series of large tsunamis also formed, adding to the damage. The tsunami caused by the Great Kanto Earthquake appeared a few minutes after the initial shock. It was 40 feet (about 12 metres) tall and added to the damage all along to the coastline, sweeping cars and pedestrians

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