Amorgos: Residents remember the terrifying moments since the 1956 earthquake: “I will never forget the big hum”

The moment the Cyclades islands shake and with the image of the inhabitants of Santorini leaving the island in terror, they awaken memories from the great in 1956 and caused the death of 53 people. Mr. Michael, a resident of Amorgos, who is 78 years old today and had experienced the terrible earthquake of 1956 with 7.5 Richter, speaking at newsit.gr, describes the moment when the whole island began to shake and the difficulties encountered by the inhabitants after the vibration. CORVERSE “Then in the 1956 earthquake I was about 10 years old. What I will never forget is the great buzz that came and then followed this terrifying earthquake.” Mr. Michael says that their earthquake literally caught them in sleep and points out that for them it was something new as they did not know exactly what to do to protect themselves. Now, as he says, they are taking preventive measures and are all on guard. “At that moment my two aunts, my mother’s sisters, were sleeping in the other house and we in another. We went straight out, we saw that we were safer there and then my mother went in, took our clothes to get dressed and then we left.” CORVERSE The 78-year-old man, recovering from his memory at those moments, remembers strongly that most then were unaware of danger and did not know that in these cases the sea may be the greatest danger to man. “At first we thought about staying out somewhere but then someone said tsunami because the sea had been drawn. Some had come in to collect the fish and octopus because then there was something called hunger… The tax collector yelled at them, chased them away. Even the boats had come out on the sand and pushed them so they wouldn’t hit and break against the wall. The anchors couldn’t hold them. The water had gone up a lot, resulting in the drift. At some point we all realized that we were not safe there and we went up a hill for about a month,” he explained. Nothing was easy for their lives, among them there were babies, elderly people and people with health problems but in the fear of the earthquake, whose roar still cannot forget any of them, could not go back to their homes. “It was very difficult but after a while we went to a lower altitude, to an area with olives and camped there. The women at night were checking not to have a snake come and pinch us. They took care of some cats to get the snakes out. Fortunately, the earthquake became summer and we could stay out. For our good luck in Amorgos we did not have great losses as Santorini had only a couple of very old houses were demolished,” Mr. Michael explains about what lived on the island in 1956. At some point after quite a long time, it seems that things had begun to stabilize and the residents had made the decision to return to their households but always in the fear of a new earthquake. “When we decided to go home, I remember sleeping outside, we didn’t go in because we were scared. My mother was cooking out in the yard and entering the house just to pick up some things and came out again quickly. What I have left in my memory is the fear people had, how they were after us not to go near the sea in case it became a tsunami. However, before the big earthquake, no attention had been made, everything became once and for all”, concludes Mr. Michael. “I saw the sea pull many meters through” Mr. Dimitris, who is currently 87 years old, is also witnessing the 1956 earthquake. As explained in newssit.gr, the most terrifying moment for him was not the earthquake but the tsunami caused. Fortunately, the momentum of water did not drown his family since they were at altitude. “I was 18 years old and had gone to the southern part of Amorgos to see my animals. As I sat, suddenly comes the first and terrible vibration. I was so scared because I had never experienced anything like this before, I didn’t know what was going on. I was so scared that I got up and ran to the village. When the land calmed down, then I went back to where I was across the sea. The difference between that earthquake and the earthquakes that are happening now is that the 1956 vibration was lasting and was stronger.” The moment the sea began to pull back, it was something unprecedented for Mr. Dimitris and for everyone who saw the phenomenon. Nobody knew what was going on and nobody knew what was coming. “The rocky heights began to roll down. I was so scared when I saw the sea being pulled many meters inside. I expected to see where he was going and then he came rushing back,” explains Mr. Dimitris. The suffering of all people was now daily after the earthquake. The blow was great and there couldn’t be no casualties after such a blow. A total of 53 people died from the earthquake and 100 others were injured. “Then after the big earthquake, there were lighter vibrations that held all day long. We spent a lot of days in tents until this all went away. We may not have lost our house but a lot of water has been lost from the wells. All the baxes dried up, we had no water, he reports.