The Great Kanto earthquake (????? Kanto daishinsai) struck the Kanto Plain on the Japanese main island of Honshu at 11:58 in the morning on Saturday; September 1; 1923. Varied accounts indicate the duration of the earthquake was between four and 10 minutes. The 2011 Tohoku earthquake later surpassed that record; at magnitude 9.0.

The earthquake had a magnitude of 7.9 on the Moment magnitude scale (Mw); with its focus deep beneath Izu Oshima Island in the Sagami Bay. The cause was a rupture of part of the convergent boundary where the Philippine Sea Plate is subducting beneath the Okhotsk Plate along the line of the Sagami Trough.

This earthquake devastated Tokyo; the port city of Yokohama; and the surrounding prefectures of Chiba; Kanagawa; and Shizuoka; and caused widespread damage throughout the Kanto region. The power was so great in Kamakura; over 60 km (37 mi) from the epicenter; it moved the Great Buddha statue; which weighs about 93 short tons (84;000 kg); almost two feet.

Estimated casualties totaled about 142;800 deaths; including about 40;000 who went missing and were presumed dead. The damage from this natural disaster was the greatest sustained by prewar Japan. In 1960; the government declared September 1; the anniversary of the quake; as an annual 'Disaster Prevention Day'.

According to the Japanese conclusive report; 105;385 deaths were confirmed in the 1923 quake. Pictures From History