100 Years Later: Remembering the 1923 Great Kanto Earthquake and Korean Massacre
It was a quiet morning on September 1st, 1923. Most people in Greater Tokyo were either preparing for lunch or just going on with their day.
At 11:58 a.m., disaster struck.
A giant earthquake with a magnitude of 7.9 struck the Kanto region of Japan, affecting millions living in Tokyo, Yokohama and in coastal cities along the Sagami Bay.
Japan is no stranger to earthquakes and other natural disasters. The country is located on or near the boundaries of three major tectonic plates: Pacific, Eurasian and North American. In fact, 20% of all recorded earthquakes with a magnitude of 6.0 or greater have occurred in Japan. It is no wonder Japan is often dubbed an “earthquake nation”.
The 1923 Great Kanto Earthquake occurred as a result of the Philippine Sea Plate converging with the Okhotsk (Honshu) plate. It could not have happened at a worst time when many people were cooking their lunch meals (over a fire). The combination of high winds and the traditional wooden homes that locals used to live in caused these fires to quickly grow and spread, some of which even developed into “fire tornados”.
Destruction and Damage
38,000 people were killed within 15 minutes when a giant 300-meter-wide fire tornado travelling at a speed of 200km/hour swept through downtown Tokyo. Among the victims were innocent locals who sought refuge inside an army clothing depot serving as an evacuation center after the Chief of Police had ordered them to seek shelter there. Furthermore, many more locals died after getting their feet stuck on melting tarmac which prevented them from running or escaping. According to a police report, fires had broken out in 136 different locations by 12:30 pm.
While all that was happening, a tsunami with waves of up to 30 feet high struck the coast of Sagami Bay causing further death and destruction. The Kanto Region also experienced 57 aftershocks, some of which had a magnitude of 7.0. People living along the mountainous areas of Kanagawa lost their homes and livelihood as a result of landslides.
The fires burned for days. High winds and damaged water mains and fire hydrants made it difficult for residents to put out the fires. Hundreds of passengers managed to escape onto a ship bound for Kobe in the Kansai region. However, many locals who survived the initial earthquake died while trying to put out the fires or during their futile attempts to escape.
The earthquake left a path of apocalyptic devastation. In the span of five days, Japan experienced an earthquake, aftershocks, a tsunami, fire whirls and mudslides. The casualties were profound. An estimated 140,000 people died while 1.9 million were left homeless after 570,000 homes were destroyed. By September 5th, over “33,000 square meters of Tokyo existed as nothing more than blackened remains and ash”. Survivors described the victims as “black swollen bodies that were piled higher than one could imagine” (Schencking, 2007).
The Korean Massacre
Morale was low and tension was at an all-time high. False rumours began to circulate that Koreans were setting fires, instigating riots, poisoning water wells and committing robbery. Over 6,000 Koreans, as well as Chinese and Japanese locals mistaken as Korean, were either taken into custody or brutally massacred by vigilante groups, soldiers and police officers. Angry mobs even forced random strangers to read kanji, and those that couldn’t were killed.
The Imperial Japanese army was eventually called in to protect the Koreans. They handed out flyers denying the rumours and urged the mobs to leave the Koreans alone. The Chief of Police of Tsurumi even publicly drank water from a well to disprove the rumour that Koreans were poisoning the wells.
735 participants of the massacre were eventually arrested but faced little to no punishment. Prime Minister Uchida Kosai acknowledged the killings but downplayed the severity of the massacre claiming that only five Koreans died. News reporters were also banned from reporting on the massacre in an attempt to deny that it even happened. Furthermore, Kosai blamed Yamaguchi Seiken, a dockworker, for spreading the rumours resulting in a two year prison sentence. In reality, the rumours were started by police officers.
Japan Today
In 1960, the Japanese government designated every September 1st as “Disaster Prevention Day” to commemorate the 1923 earthquake. In 2015, the government of Tokyo issued a handbook to locals outlining how to prepare for and stay safe during an earthquake. Schools and other institutions will also typically hold a moment of silence, as well as disaster drills on the anniversary.
The Korean Massacre has largely been ignored or outright denied by Japanese officials. Yuriko Koike, the governor of Tokyo has refused to offer condolences, let alone acknowledge the massacre.
Since 1923, the Japanese government has implemented numerous preventative measures to minimize the damage of future earthquakes. Developers must adhere to strict regulations that require all buildings to be constructed with seismic protection systems, and must undergo inspections every ten years. An example of such system are seismic isolation bearings, which allows buildings to “sway” and move horizontally, rather than toppling over.
The most notable seismic protection system is the “Shinbashira”, which is a central pillar usually made out of steel or reinforced concrete placed at the core of a building. These systems are designed to absorb the energy of an earthquake, thus preventing buildings from collapsing.
Japan is expected to experience another mega earthquake within the next 50 years. However, it is undeniable that the country is much better equipped and prepared for natural disasters than it was 100 years ago.
Sources
Hammer, Joshua. (2011). The Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923. Smithsonian. Accessed Aug 30, 2023 from https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-great-japan-earthquake-of-1923-1764539/
Schencking, Charles (2007). The Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923 and the Japanese Nation. Education About Asia. Accessed Aug 30 from https://www.asianstudies.org/wp-content/uploads/the-great-kanto-earthquake-of-1923-and-the-japanese-nation.pdf
