The Great Kanto earthquake struck the Kanto plain of Japan around midday, with its epicentre beneath Sagami Bay, and it devastated Tokyo and Yokohama. Many people had lit cooking fires for lunch, and fire storms swept through the largely wooden cities, causing most of the deaths, which are estimated at over one hundred thousand. In the chaos, rumours spread that Korean residents were poisoning wells, and mobs and police killed thousands of Koreans and some Chinese and Japanese. The city was rebuilt by a reconstruction plan led by Goto Shinpei, and the date is now observed in Japan as Disaster Prevention Day.
Before and after
- 2 August 1923Birth of Shimon Peres
- 12 August 1923Construction of Olimpiyskiy National Sports Complex
- 29 August 1923Birth of Richard Attenborough
- September 1923Kantō Massacre
- 1 September 19231923 Great Kantō Earthquake
- 7 September 1923Founding of Interpol
- 16 September 1923Birth of Kuan Yew Lee
- 16 September 1923Construction of RheinEnergie Stadion
- October 1923Hubble shows that Andromeda is a separate galaxy
More in Earth & climate
- 19 November 1919Establishment of Zion National Park
- 1928Establishment of Thingvellir National Park
- 15 September 1928Establishment of Bryce Canyon National Park
- 11 May 1937Establishment of Los Glaciares National Park
- 29 June 1938Establishment of Olympic National Park
- 1 July 1941Establishment of Mammoth Cave National Park
The era
This moment belongs to the Modern era (1914 CE to 1945 CE), world wars and a changing world. You can also browse everything in the 20th century.