But as a Chinese idiom describes, disasters never come singly. Three years after work had started, Japan experienced an earthquake that measured 7.9 on the Richter scale. More than 150,000 people died. The destruction hit the Kanto Plain and was centered around Tokyo.
禍不單行地，開工後第 3 年，日本發生芮氏規模 7.9 的關東大地震，罹難人數達 15 萬人，毀滅了以東京為中心的關東地區，造成日本政治、財經、社會的巨大創傷。