One of the greatest disasters in Japanese history , the death and destruction incurred by the Meireki fire was nearly comparable to that suffered in the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake and the 1945 bombing of Tokyo in World War II . Each of these 20th-century events , like the Meireki fire less than three centuries earlier , saw roughly 100,000 deaths , and the destruction of the majority of the city
1923 Great Kantō earthquake
1923 Great Kantō earthquake
Great fire of Meireki