The Great Kanto earthquake struck the Kanto plain on the Japanese main island of Honshu on the morning of September 1. According to various accounts, the duration of the quake was between four and ten minutes. It was estimated to have had a magnitude between 7.9 and 8.4 on the Richter scale with its focus deep beneath Izu Oshima Island in Sagami Bay.
The quake devastated Tokyo, the port city of Yokohoma, surrounding prefectures of Chiba, Kanagawa, and Shizuoka, and caused widespread damage throughout the Kanto region. The power and intensity of the earthquake managed to move the 93-ton Buddha at Kamakura almost two feet. Casualty estimates range from about 100,000 to 142,000 deaths with the latter figure including approximately 37,000 people who went missing and were presumed dead. The quake struck at lunch time when people were using fire to cook food and the damage and the number of fatalities were augmented due to fires which broke out in numerous locations.
The fires spread rapidly due to high winds from a nearby typhoon off the coast of Noto Peninsula in Northern Japan and some developed into firestorms which swept across cities. The Imperial Palace caught fire, but the Prince Regent was unharmed. Numerous homes in mountainous areas and hilly coastal areas in western Kangawa were buried or swept away by landsides but the fires were the biggest causes of death.
