Volcanoes & Earthquakes

A Tokyo street after the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923

* Japan lies on a boundary between two plates of the earth's crust, which are pushing against each other.  Because of this, it has active volcanoes, as well as hundreds of tremors (small earthquakes) each year.  Although most of these tremors are too small to be felt, there have been major earthquakes in Japan's history.  

The Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923, which was centered in the Tokyo area, is estimated to have been about 8.2 on the Richter scale.  Because it occurred at lunch time, many people were cooking over open fires, which ignited the toppled buildings.  After the quake, fire spread throughout the city.  Approximately 130,000 people died in the quake and the fires that followed it.