Kanto Earthquake, Japan, 1923

The Great Kantō earthquake (関東大地震, Kantō dai-jishin, Kantō ō-jishin) also known in Japanese as Kantō daishinsai (関東大震災) struck the Kantō Plain on the main Japanese island of Honshū at 11:58:32 JST (02:58:32 UTC) on Saturday, September 1, 1923. The immediate effects and ensuing firestorms destroyed the Japanese capital city of Tokyo and killed more than 100,000 people, making it one of the deadliest recorded earthquakes. Varied accounts indicate the duration of the earthquake was between four and ten minutes. The earthquake had a magnitude that ranges between 7.9 to 8.2 on the moment magnitude scale (Mw ), with its focus deep beneath Izu Ōshima Island in Sagami Bay. The cause was a rupture of part of the convergent boundary where the Philippine Sea plate is subducting beneath the Okhotsk microplate along the line of the Sagami Trough. In the immediate aftermath of the earthquake, the Kantō Massacre began. Rumors emerged that ethnic Koreans in Japan had poisoned wells or were planning to attack cities. In response, the Japanese police and bands of armed vigilantes killed ethnic Korean civilians and anyone they suspected of being Korean. Estimates of the death toll from the massacre vary, with most third-party sources citing fatalities ranging from 6,000 to 10,000. The earthquake had long lasting effects on Japanese society. It increased Japan's drift towards militarization, which would contribute to World War II. It led to the 1927 Shōwa financial crisis, and a resurgence in typhoid fever. Since 1960, September 1 has been designated by the Japanese government as Disaster Prevention Day (防災の日, Bōsai no hi), or a day in remembrance of and to prepare for major natural disasters including tsunami and typhoons.