TOKYO EARTHQUAKE

THE WORLD

DISASTERS

TOKYO EARTHQUAKE
     Before 1 September 1923, Japan's capital was home to 2.5 million people. Then it was struck by one of the most devastating earthquakes in history. The main shock came at midday, when families were cooking  lunch. Charcoal burners were overturned, starting fires which spread rapidly among the close-packed timber houses, Half the city burned, and 142,000 people died. A million more, made homeless, moved away,. Once the world's fifth lartest city, Tokyo became the tenth.

Suddcen Collapse
     Measurring 8.2 on the Richter Scale, the quake's epicentre was in Sagami Bay,where the seabed dropped by 400 metres. Near Tokyo, the thriving seaport of Yokohama was also almost completely destroyed.

A million homeless
     More than 500,000 of Tokyo's flimsy wooden homes collapsed or burned in the raging fires. Earth tremors, which continued for days, broke up the underground water pipes, making fire-fighting impossible, people slept out of doors, afraid of being trapped under falling roofs. One eye-witness described the scene: "All day and all night, men, women and children walk the camps and parks searching for lost relatives. "