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 charities, including NZ$40,000 (US$32,000) to both the Red Cross Christchurch earthquake appeal and the Canterbury Earthquake Appeal Salvation Army funds. At Westpac Bank, a public donation account was opened in order to provide financial assistance for earthquake victims. Chief executives from the Commonwealth Bank sponsored an exclusive dinner in Sydney to raise money for rebuilding costs; an initial A$700,000 (US$660,000) was allocated prior to the event, with entry costs of A$10,000 (US$9,500) per ticket. 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