Genroku Earthquake Levels Edo

December 31, 1703

A magnitude-eight quake struck the Boso Peninsula before dawn, followed by a tsunami that swallowed fishing villages whole. Fires consumed much of Edo. Over ten thousand died. The Tokugawa bureaucracy, schooled by centuries of disaster, began rebuilding with firebreaks and tile roofs before the ashes cooled. The earthquake also devastated Odawara Castle and shattered the prosperity of the Genroku cultural golden age.