Cities and disaster
The Tokyo/Yokohama earthquake and fire of 1923
What happened?
At 11.58am on Saturday, 1 September 1923, an earthquake measuring 8.3 on the Richter scale and with its epicentre in Sagami Bay, about 50 miles south of Tokyo, wreaked havoc on an area extending from the popular resorts in the Hakone mountains (including Mount Fuji) to the busy shipping lanes of Yokohama Bay and the densely populated, industrial city of Yokohama, and onwards 17 miles north to the Japanese capital of Tokyo. In Japan, the disaster is known as the Great Kanto Earthquake, ‘Kanto’ being the name of the affected region.
The earthquake released more energy than was expended during World War II. Officially it lasted for a stupendous four minutes, and there are other reports of 10 minutes of ‘felt’ vibrations and up to 2.5 hours of constant motion. The following day, more than 300 aftershocks were recorded, including a ‘major event’ almost exactly 24 hours after the initial quake. The same number of aftershocks were felt during the next three days.
All the tremors were accompanied by dramatic upheaval and depression of the earth – at Misaki, it rose by as much as 24 feet (7.3 metres) before gradually subsiding. All this movement resulted in thousands of landslides: the entire village of Nebukawa was buried in a massive mudflow, killing hundreds. There was a tsunami as well, but although this crested at 36ft (11m) in some relatively unpopulated areas, it didn’t cause nearly as much damage as, say the Indian Ocean tsunami of December 2004.
Although not the largest, its proximity to Tokyo and Yokohama made this one of the most devastating earthquakes ever to hit Japan. The two cities were particularly hard hit because they both stand on soft river deposits that are especially prone to tremors.
The quake hit when open coal and charcoal fires and gas ranges had just been lit in thousands of homes and restaurants for the preparation of the noon-day meal. As houses, traditionally made of highly flammable wood and paper and built close together, toppled over, fires started – 88 major ones in Yokohama alone. They burned at such a pace that the normally well-prepared firefighters could not keep up, and because of broken mains, no water was available to fight the flames.
The fires also produced winds that occasionally formed cyclones, which further spread the conflagration. In Tokyo, strong winds became a chief obstacle to containing the fire. Even away from the flames, the temperature late at night soared to 86ºF (30ºC).
Many people in Yokohama fled to ships in the harbour to get away. On the morning of 2 September, after seeping oil in the water caught fire, there was a mad scramble to get the vessels out to the open sea. One of those who rode out the disaster on a yacht was the American expatriate O M Poole, who later wrote:
In the enveloping summer night, the relentless roar of flames sounded like heavy surf, with frequent crashes of thunder. We seemed to be in the centre of a huge stage, illuminated by pulsing, crimson footlights ... We could see a thin rim of fire all around Tokyo Bay, meaning that fishing villages and small towns were all sharing the same fate; the glare above Yokosuka, where the jaws of the bay come close together, showed that the naval arsenal was also going up. Northwards over the water there rose on the horizon a billowy, pink cloud like cumuli at sunset, so distant as to seem unchanging and motionless, yet each time one looked it had taken a different shape. This was Tokyo burning, and by the cloud’s titanic proportions we knew the whole city must be in flames, as indeed most of it was.
What was the cost?
Approximately 142,000 people died, 58,000 in Tokyo alone, with another 40,000 missing. The dead and injured had either been trapped in collapsed buildings or had taken refuge in areas that were later surrounded and consumed by the inferno. The greatest loss of life occurred at the military clothing depot in Honjo Ward in Tokyo, where many refugees had gathered. Most carried clothing, bedrolls and furniture rescued from their homes, all of which served as a ready fuel source. A firestorm suffocated an estimated 40,000 of them.
An estimated 1.9 million of those who survived were left homeless, with a total of 694,000 houses partially or completely destroyed. It is estimated that at least 80% of the total destruction of Yokohama was due to fire rather than the earthquake.
The shortage of drinkable water due to the broken mains became a tremendous problem for the survivors. The telephone and telegraph systems were also destroyed, leaving the region completely cut off from the outside world. Travel was virtually impossible with the destruction of railway tracks, damaged bridges, loss of power to electric tramways and roads choked with rubble. As all major newspaper offices had been destroyed in the fires, signs had to be posted informing people of everything from relief efforts and where to contact relatives to the dire consequences of looting (being hanged or shot).
In the aftermath, rumours that outsiders – mainly Koreans and people from Okinawa – had poisoned wells and committed arson spread among the frightened population. Groups of right-wing vigilantes patrolling the streets attacked Koreans, killing as many as 6,000 of them. In addition, the military took the opportunity to assassinate a number of socialists and anarchists.
By 8 September, Tokyo was placed under martial law. This allowed the government to disperse people, prohibit or suppress newspapers or advertisements, seize property, enter buildings, or take any action it deemed necessary to maintain order.
What was the disaster’s legacy?
The survivors were the first in the world to benefit from advances in modern technology that allowed word of the disaster to be conveyed and hastened the arrival of international assistance. Although communication between the disaster area and the outside world had been severed, the news was revealed by earthquake monitors abroad. As a result, foreign ships called in at Japanese ports to deliver relief supplies.
As staggering as the initial losses of life and property were, there were more hard times to come. In general, the early 1920s had been good times for Japan’s growing economy. While most of Europe had been suffering the after-effects of World War I, it had been enjoying relative economic prosperity. However, after the destruction of such a huge number of industries, recovery was painfully slow.
Foreign investors were very hesitant to rebuild in Japan, and unemployment was an immediate and lasting problem. By 1926, according to the Japanese Bureau of Social Affairs, more than 45% of the working population in the affected region had lost their jobs. Some authorities point to the earthquake as one of the reasons for the rise in Japanese militarism, as the country sought to wrest itself from the economic doldrums by controlling the areas that were both sources of raw materials and markets for its goods.
From about 1926, the rebuilding of Tokyo occurred at a breathtaking speed. One- and two-storeyed wood and brick structures were replaced with modern five- and six-storeyed buildings of concrete and steel in the European style. Motorways were built, the first underground train system was created in 1927 and a new airport in 1931. By 1935, the population of Tokyo – 6.36 million – was larger than before the earthquake
However, to build so quickly, the same narrow streets of pre-earthquake Tokyo, with their dog-legs and circular meanderings, were reproduced and the crowded plots were replicated. The city remained vulnerable to another damaging earthquake, but it was Allied bombs that next put the city to the torch.
In 1960, 1 September was designated ‘Disaster Prevention Day’ to commemorate the earthquake and remind people of the importance of preparation. The faultline on which Tokyo lies has caused a major earthquake every 70 years or so: it has now been more than 80 years since a major quake hit the city.
