In the years following the San Francisco disaster, a young Japanese seismologist tried to persuade his older colleagues that Tokyo should be prepared for another earthquake like the one in 1703 that had been very destructive. His warnings were not heeded, and in 1923 a great earthquake caused extensive damage in Yokohama and Tokyo by direct shaking and by fires. About 140,000 people died.
Its force was so great in Kamakura, over 60 km (37 mi) from the epicenter, it moved the Great Buddha statue, which weighs about 93 short tons (84,000 kg), almost two feet