A paper on the Kanto Daikasai following the 1923 Earthquake by Associate Professor Tomoaki Nishino et.al. was published in a special issue of the Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America

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Associate Professor Tomoaki Nishino co-authored a paper with Dr. Charles Scawthorn (University of California), Professor J. Charles Schencking (University of Hong Kong), and Assistant Professor Janet Borland (International Christian University) “Kantō Daikasai: The Great Kantō Fire following the 1923 Earthquake” which was published in the Special Issue of the Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America for the Centennial of Great 1923 Kanto Earthquake, Japan.

 

This paper focuses on the simultaneous large-scale fires that occurred in Tokyo City following the Kanto Earthquake that occurred on September 1, 1923, and summarizes the actual and estimated aspects of fire occurrence, spread, and the effects of fire air currents. At the same time, by touching on the recent trends in earthquakes and fires in Japan as well as the latest research results on damage prediction and risk assessment, we emphasize that the risk of earthquakes and fires remains significant even in modern times and should not be overlooked.

 

As Japan approached the 100th anniversary of the Great Kanto Earthquake, it is hoped that the lessons learned from Japan’s historic earthquakes and fires will once again be widely shared internationally and be  utilized for future disaster prevention in earthquake-prone countries.