Persistence of Natural Disasters on Children's Health: Evidence from the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923

Abstract

This study uses a catastrophic earthquake in 1923 to analyze the long-term effects of a one-off disaster on children's health. I find that fetal exposure to Japan's Great Kanto Earthquake had stunting effects on girls in the devastated area. Disaster relief spending helped remediate stunting among boys by late primary school ages, whereas it did not ameliorate girls' stunting, suggesting a biased remediation mechanism before birth and compensating investment after birth. While the maternal mental stress via strong vibrations played a role in the adverse health effects, the maternal nutritional stress via physical disruption also enhanced those effects