contributor
27,126
edits
Changes
From SamuraiWiki
Jump to navigationJump to searchno edit summary
The quake was a near-field earthquake, localized and focused shallowly beneath Edo. Roughly 130,000 people were killed, and another 100,000 injured. Roughly 10,000 homes are said to have been lost, along with all the ''[[daimyo yashiki|daimyô yashiki]]'' (samurai lords' mansions) in [[Marunouchi]]; the stone walls of [[Edo castle]] were severely damaged as well. The famous Ueno Daibutsu (Great Buddha Statue) at [[Kan'ei-ji]] in [[Ueno Park|Ueno]] was severely damaged by the earthquake as well, losing its head; today, only the face remains visible to visitors.
The quake was a near-field earthquake, localized and focused shallowly beneath Edo. Roughly 130,000 people were killed, and another 100,000 injured. Roughly 10,000 homes are said to have been lost, along with all the ''[[daimyo yashiki|daimyô yashiki]]'' (samurai lords' mansions) in [[Marunouchi]]; the stone walls of [[Edo castle]] were severely damaged as well. The famous Ueno Daibutsu (Great Buddha Statue) at [[Kan'ei-ji]] in [[Ueno Park|Ueno]] was severely damaged by the earthquake as well, losing its head; today, only the face remains visible to visitors.
Many observed that the destruction seemed to be centered near the administrative buildings of the shogunate, inspiring many to suggest the earthquake was a sign of the gods' anger at the shogunate's order [[1854|the previous year]] to gather up and melt down Buddhist temple bells from all over the country, in order to use the metal to forge cannon to ward off the Westerners.<ref>James Ketelaar, ''Of Heretics and Martyrs in Meiji Japan'', Princeton University Press (1991), 5.</ref>
{{stub}}
{{stub}}
