1923 Great Kantō earthquake 40,000 who went missing and were presumed dead. According to the Japanese construction company Kajima Kobori Research's conclusive report of September 2004, 105,385 deaths were confirmed in the 1923 quake. 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". Because the earthquake struck at lunchtime when many people were cooking meals over fire, many people died as a result of the many large fires that broke out. Some fires developed into firestorms that swept across cities. Many people
June 2011 Christchurch earthquake June 2011 Christchurch earthquake The June 2011 Christchurch earthquake was a shallow magnitude 6.3 M earthquake that occurred on 13 June 2011 at 14:20 NZST (02:20 UTC). It was centred at a depth of 6 km (3.8 mi), about 10 km (6 mi) from Christchurch, which had previously been devastated by another magnitude 6.3 M earthquake in February 2011. The June quake was preceded by a magnitude 5.9 M tremor that struck the region at a slightly deeper 8.9 km (5.5 mi). The United States Geological Survey reported a magnitude of 6.0 M at a depth of about 9 km