Earthquake 1923

Possibly the first picture ever made of an earthquake during the tremor. It was made by a passenger on the S.S.Empress of Australia in Yokohama harbour. Apparently the photographer caught a pier collapsing. On September 1, 1923, just before noon, an earthquake of magnitude 8.3 occurred near the densely populated, modern industrial cities of Tokyo and Yokohama, Japan. The epicenter was placed in Sagami Bay, just southwest of Tokyo Bay. Destruction ranged from far up into the Hakone mountains, home to popular tourist resorts, to the busy shipping lanes of Yokohama Bay, north to the city of Tokyo. Though not the largest earthquake to ever hit Japan, the proximity to Tokyo and Yokohama and the surrounding areas, with combined populations numbering 2 million, made it one of the most devastating quakes ever to hit Japan. Tokyo's principle business and industrial districts lay in ruins. Deaths were estimated at nearly 100,000, with an additional 40,000 missing.