Effects of the Great Kanto Earthquake in Japanese History

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The Great Kanto Earthquake also known as the Tokyo-Yokohama Earthquake of 1923 hit the metropolitan area of Kanto on September 1st, 1923 around 11:58 pm. It was a 7.9 on the Richter magnitude scale, killing over one-hundred and forty thousand people due to its high magnitude and the time it happened. The earthquake struck around lunch time, when many Japanese people were at home cooking at their charcoal or gas fueled stoves. At the moment the earthquake hit, it knocked down buildings that caught flames from the stoves that fell over, enflaming the city. The fire was swept up and able to spread due to the gusts of wind that occurred for two days afterwards, resulting in firestorms. Charles Blauvelt experienced the ordeal of the fire describing the flames as “[covering] the whole city [as they] burned all day and night.” In addition to the firestorms and the earthquake itself, there was a shock because of all the fallen debris which triggered tsunamis to fill and flood Japanese cities. These tsunamis, that were about thirty feet tall, destroyed central Tokyo and immensely added to the death toll.

Because of the damage to the city, the people around the affected area had to move elsewhere, but they were killed off due to the firestorms; the remaining survivors attempted to rebuild the city. They got help from foreign lands, which were willing to help by loaning and donating money. With donated money, they were able to rebuild homes and to restore the land. In addition to getting help from foreign lands, they worked internally to help their own nation. The survivors of the caustic disaster took loans from the national bank, which made the economy flourish. Even though the people worked amongst themselves and helped each other, the g...

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