The Great Kantō earthquake also known in Japanese as Kantō daishinsai (関東大震災) struck the Kantō Plain on the main Japanese island of Honshū at 11:58:32 JST on Saturday, September 1, 1923. Varied accounts indicate the duration of the earthquake was between four and ten minutes. Extensive firestorms and even a fire whirl added to the death toll.

Kanagawa Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Kanagawa Prefecture is the second-most populous prefecture of Japan at 9,221,129 and third-densest at 3,800 inhabitants per square kilometre (9,800/sq mi). Its geographic area of 2,415 km2 (932 sq mi) makes it fifth-smallest. Kanagawa Prefecture borders Tokyo to the north, Yamanashi Prefecture to the northwest and Shizuoka Prefecture to the west.