Zante's Inferno!
This document is an eye witness account of aspects of the relief operation following the major earthquake on the island of Zante in August 1953. It is written from my perspective as a Royal Naval marine engineering artificer who worked on the island between 15 and 21 August. Additional material has been provided by other Naval personnel who were involved in the relief operation.
Details of the increase in seismic activity prior to the earthquake have been obtained from the website of the National Earthquake Information Centre; World Data Centre A for Seismology at http://neic.usgs.gov . A history of earth movements in Southern Greece and the Ionian Sea since 1953 has been compiled from the records of the International Seismological Centre, Thatcham, Berkshire at http://www.isc.ac.uk/Bulletin/rectang.htm
The photographs of Zante as it is today were taken from one of the many Zante Tourism websites www.zante.com . All other photographs were taken by the author during the relief mission.
Zante as it is today.
Zante, or Zakynthos to use the Greek name, is the southernmost island in the Cephalonia group. It lies in the Ionian sea about 17 miles to the West of the Greek mainland. The main town, also called Zante, is sited on the Eastern coast of the island and, on 12 August 1953, was totally destroyed by a massive earthquake, along with the town of Argostoli on the neighbouring island of Cephalonia.
Like many of the islands in the group Zante has had a chequered history. Originally part of the Roman Empire under Fulvius it was left to the mercy of bands of pirates after the fall of Rome until it was incorporated into the Byzantine Empire under Constantine the Great. In 466 AD Zante town was razed to the ground by an African Vandal king after which the island was invaded by the Crusaders and remained under a feudal overlordship until the arrival of the Venetians in 1485. Between 1487 and 1797 Zante remained colonised by the Venetians and the style of architecture largely reflects that heritage. Pillars and balconies and Italianate ornamentation abounded until the earthquake and many have been revived and can be seen to the present day. The Venetians were ousted by the French who established a Préfecture of the Aegean. This was very short lived, however, and the French were forced to leave when, in 1800, Russia and Turkey founded the Eptanissos State of the Ionian Islands which was to become a self-governing part of the Russian Empire. The State constitution declared that the island was to be ruled by hereditary nobles but the people of Zante, remembering the lessons of earlier hereditary rule, raised the Union Flag in the hope of attracting the British to defend their independence. In 1809 Zante became a British protectorate. While the islander's quality of life improved initially the later administration was cruel and unjust. Thus, when the Greek revolution was declared, the people of Zante chose to fight on the side of the Greeks and, in 1864, Britain abandoned the status of protector and the Greek flag was raised over the island.
Unlike the rocky and barren islands of the Cyclades group in the Aegean, the Cephalonia group are green and fertile, featuring sheltered, lush and watered valleys. Zante, in particular, was, and is, known for its fragrant gardens. Although it is now a well known tourist attraction the economy of Zante is predominantly agricultural supported by the many small fishing hamlets dotted around the island's coastline.
Greece is the most seismically active country in the world and the inhabitants of Zante were, and are, no strangers to earthquakes. The island lies to the Eastern side of the Hellenic Trench, a geographical location noted for earth movement. On Zante itself records of earthquakes go back to 1508 although, up to the twentieth century, most of the details are based on anecdotal evidence. Whilst the magnitude of these ancient earthquakes may be open to question there is not any doubt that the island suffered at least thirty earthquakes between 1508 and 1934. The development of the Richter Scale in 1935 greatly increased the precision with which the power of an earthquake might be measured. Thus, during the fifteen years between 1935 and 1950 Zante experienced four earthquakes, all of which were in the range 4.5 - 4.6 on the Richter scale i.e. of light to moderate magnitude. In 1952, however, there was evidence of increasing earth movement in the area and no less than five shocks of light to moderate magnitude were experienced. This development continued during the early part of 1953 and on April 2, 17 and 23, there were three more light to moderate shocks. When three further shocks of similar magnitude occurred on 19, 21 and 23 June it was clear that a marked trend appeared to be building. Prediction of earthquakes is a notoriously difficult matter but with the compelling evidence of significantly increased seismic activity in the area the authorities began to make contingency plans which included opening lines of communication with military and aid agencies active in the Mediterranean.
On the 11 August the island of Cephalonia, a few miles to the North of Zante, experienced ten shocks of magnitude 4.5 - 5.3. Then, on 12 August, came the expected major shock that measured 7.3 on the Richter Scale. This was a seriously strong earthquake, nearly 1000 times the magnitude of earlier shocks and dissipating almost 33,000 times the amount of energy. The epicentre was in the sea at a point roughly mid-way between the towns of Argostoli and Zante. The results were devastating. In chapter 65 of his book "Captain Corelli's Mandolin" Louis de Bernières gives a wonderfully graphic description of the earthquake that is clearly based on eye witness accounts gleaned from the inhabitants of Cephalonia and appropriate authorities during his research for the book. With regard to Zante he says "the town blazed beneath a rain of incandescent cinders that fell upon the flesh so tormentingly that both men and dogs went mad. A rescue worker, one who had been a witness to Nagasaki, said afterwards that this was worse". Whether due to incandescent cinders or the effect of taverna fires, the fact is that, following the extreme damage caused by the earthquake, what was left of the town of Zante was consumed by fire that could not be controlled because of failure of the water supply.
At the time of
the earthquake I was serving as a marine engineering artificer on H.M.S. Bermuda
based in Malta. When news of the disaster was received leave was cancelled and
those members of the ship's company, not otherwise employed, were mobilised to
assist with loading a huge amount of additional food and supplies for
transportation to the stricken island. Every spare inch of deck space was taken
up with lorries, water tankers, and building materials to construct shelters.
There was even a helicopter lashed to the top of one of the gun turrets. Below
decks was crammed with blankets, medical stores, electrical generators, tools
and implements of all kinds. The ship sailed on the morning of 14
August for the journey of 400 miles or so to Zante and arrived off the coast of
the island at dawn the following day. As soon as the anchor was down a group
were sent ashore to liaise with an army detachment which had arrived the
previous day. For the rest the priority was to get the supplies and vehicles
ashore as soon as possible.
On the island itself there were huge logistical problems to be overcome. Searching for survivors had been going on ever since the earthquake but movement around the town was severely hampered by the jumble of masonry and timbers that blocked all the roads and by some fires that continued to burn. There were camps to set up, sanitation and water supplies to organise, field hospitals to be brought into operation, food and other supplies to be distributed and an electricity supply to be established. As many members of the ship's engineering department as could be spared were sent ashore to be deployed by the R.E.M.E. captain who was organising technical services.
Nothing could have prepared us for the scenes of total devastation that we saw on arrival in the town. There was chaos and rubble in all directions. Every building in the town had suffered severe damage and many were completely destroyed. Official records indicate that there were three complete buildings that remained standing but during the six days that I worked on the island I saw only one. Even that appeared to be imminent danger of collapse. During August in that part of the world the daytime heat is intense - thirty degrees Celsius and higher. Overall was the acrid smell of the fires and the sickly sweet odour of early decay. The townspeople, those who had not been moved to the camp sites, were still in a state of shock, wandering about listlessly and seemingly apathetic to the activity going on around them. Clearly hungry, they did not even attempt to help themselves from a mountain of bread that had been unloaded on to the dockside.
The engineers were divided into small groups, each with a specific remit. On the voyage from Malta the engineering workshop on Bermuda's main deck had seen a bustle of activity as a number of artificers constructed a large cooking stove for the field kitchen. Immediately on arrival at Zante this was conveyed to the South Camp, for which the Navy had responsibility, and was set up to provide at least one hot meal a day for the survivors of the earthquake. Power for the stove was provided by four enormous blow-lamps each with a tank capacity of between 2-3 gallons. These devices were developed originally to heat up the "hot bulbs" on the huge diesel engines used to power a World War I monitor, a sort of floating gun platform. The blow-lamps produced a flame almost a metre in length and their combined heat output was intense. The use of the stove was therefore not only hazardous but exercised the cook's ingenuity to the limit.
Another group of engineers was detailed to provide support to the fire-fighting teams. Failure of the town's water supply meant that portable naval fire pumps had to be set up on the jetty where they were able to get their water direct from the harbour. The problem here, of course, was the distance from the jetty to some of the fires that were still burning. The efficiency of the water jet from the hose diminished with increasing length of the hose so the task of fire fighting again proved to be a test of ingenuity. Pumps were set up to run in series or to discharge into intermediate canvas tanks so as to increase the effective range of fire-fighting. These measures proved to be entirely satisfactory and by the end of the first day all fires had been extinguished.
Some
artificers were detailed to establish technical support to the services provided
at the South Camp. Primarily this was to provide maintenance for the
portable electricity generators that powered the lighting and emergency
communications equipment at the camp. On the first night the duty
artificer received a call that one of the generators had failed and duly arrived
at the camp, complete with torch and toolkit, to find that the generator
had two faults. The first entailed a repair to the engine governor, a
relatively straightforward task. The second was that a cooling water
hose had sprung a leak as a result of which most of the engine cooling water had
drained away. Repairs to the hose were easy enough but finding water to
refill the tank was a little more difficult since the camp had used up its fresh
water supply and this could not be replenished until the morning. In
the field kitchen, however, was a large vat of naval issue "orange juice", a
mixture made up by adding a crystalline substance of uncertain content to water.
There had been no great demand for this cocktail during the day so a substantial
quantity was added to the generator cooling water tank. History does not
record what effect this acidic mixture had on the engine but there were
appreciative comments about the wonderful orange grove aroma around the camp
after the generator had been running again for half an hour or so.
The
group to which I was assigned comprised another engineer called Sam Mullis and a
mechanic known as Jock. Our task was to make operational a drag-line
excavator which had been damaged by the earthquake and subsequent fire.
Once fixed we had then to use the machine to help make roads through the rubble
to facilitate the access of rescue and demolition teams. The excavator
proved to be in poor shape. Clearly showing the signs of fire damage it
had also been looted and the drivers seat, sparking plugs and the rope from the
recoil starter were missing. Jock was despatched with a few tools to do a
little looting of his own and Sam and I set about making an assessment of the
damage and what was required in the way of repairs. Our main concern lay
with the condition of the various clutches and brakes associated with the
mechanism because it was obvious that some of these were heat damaged.
Unfortunately these were specialised items and there was no immediate hope of
obtaining spares. The cooling water hoses and ignition leads were also in
poor shape but the army turned up trumps and were able to supply suitable
replacements together with a couple of jerry-cans filled with petrol.
In the meantime Jock had returned after a successful foray with sparking plugs
and a length of rope. Repairs commenced and in a surprisingly short time
the machine was ready to be tested.
At the front of the cab was a bewildering array of levers and pedals. Our next hurdle, therefore, was to determine the function of each before attempting to start the engine. There were six levers and pedals in all. By tracing out the linkages it was fairly easy to establish that each track and the rotation of the cab were individually controlled. The remaining three levers and brakes were thus set to control the cable drums associated with the elevation of the jib and disposition of the bucket. It was clear that driving the excavator was going to be difficult but not impossible. The biggest remaining problem was the lack of a driving seat. All that remained of the original seating arrangement was a metal stalk, approximately four inches in diameter and thirty inches in height, which was secured to the floor of the cab. Since speed was of the essence we could not afford the luxury of seeking out a suitable replacement seat and so made do by lashing a bundle of rags to the top of the stalk in an attempt to make it slightly more comfortable to sit on.
It was agreed that Sam should be the first to drive the excavator so, while he took up his position in the cab, Jock and I went to the rear of the machine to take turns on the recoil starter. We were delighted when the engine started immediately and, after a short period during which each of us tested out the controls, we were ready to start the main task. Another small group of engineers who had been working on a bulldozer nearby also completed their repairs at the same time and so both machines moved off together to commence clearance of the main road that led from the harbour to the back of the town.
Concern about the condition of the brakes and clutches proved to be well founded. Our excavator seemed to possess a mind of its own and would initiate movements and actions spontaneously. The most common effect was the tendency of the cab to start a slow swing to one side or the other. This could be quite unnerving to whoever was working to the front or the side clearing timber beams or ironwork that were difficult to handle with the bucket. Another spontaneous movement was for the jib to elevate at inappropriate moments. The consequence of these unscheduled activities on the part of the excavator was that the driver had to stop whatever he was doing at the time in order to take control of the affected mechanism. It was made more difficult if two unscheduled motions occurred at the same time, which they frequently did, and if three occurred at once the driver's feet and arms were working like a theatre organist's. It was hard work and drivers had to change over every hour. However, we persevered and with the aid of a town map we identified the roads that required clearing and bit by bit moved across the back of the town.
The dust and the heat were unrelenting, and enervating, but by far the most difficult part of the work was dealing with those townspeople who returned to the site of their homes and shops during the day in order to try and salvage possessions or look for loved ones. Time after time we were entreated to move our clearance activity to one side or the other and time after time we had to refuse as gently as we could. It was easier if a leader among them became angry and waved his arms about but it was heartbreaking if our refusal caused them to dissolve into tears.
Before leaving the ship each morning we were supplied with our sustenance for the day. This was invariably a sandwich or two made with thick slices of buttered bread and a filling that was usually cheese or herrings in tomato sauce. To drink we had water in an army issue, canvas covered, metal water bottle. The heat of the day ensured that the water was quite unpalatable but at least it was wet. When it was time to eat one of the group would remain with the excavator and carry on with the clearance work, in slow time, while two went down to the small wooden jetty outside the main harbour. Here we would strip to our underpants and dive into the crystal clear water to wash off the sweat and the grime prior to eating our provisions. It was invariably the case that we would have a small audience for this activity. There were generally three or four local townspeople, including one exceptionally attractive young woman who came every day, and they would sit in complete silence and watch every move we made. It became rather unsettling and on the first occasion, in the mistaken assumption that they were hungry, we offered to share our sandwiches. They simply shook their heads and again in complete silence moved away.
The more we used the excavator the more erratic its performance became. The army captain was sympathetic but was unable to offer any positive help. He pointed out, quite rightly, that it would probably take weeks to get spare parts and that time was not a commodity that we had plenty of. His advice was to carry on as best we could because every yard cleared was of assistance to the other teams working around us. So we persevered but on the afternoon of the fifth day disaster struck. Sam had just taken over as driver and was positioning the bucket when the jib rose rapidly to the vertical position. The bucket was flung high into the air like the lure on a fishing line and appeared to be heading straight for the cab. Sam leaped for his life and the bucket just cleared the top of the cab and landed a few yards to the rear of the excavator. Its weight was the final straw to the jib which slowly toppled backwards over the cab, twisting as it went, crushing the front of the cab before it was stopped by the cable drums inside. The damage to the jib itself made the situation irredeemable and with the front of the cab structure bearing up against the cable drum the excavator was immovable. Until, that is, a R.E.M.E. gang moved in with oxy-acetylene cutting gear. The jib was cut off above its trunnions and divested of its cables. Part of the front of the cab was removed to enable movement of the cable drum. The jib was then hoisted on to what remained of the roof of the cab where it was welded into position with the end of the jib overhanging the front of the excavator by several feet. For the rest of its working life the excavator was used as a battering ram to help with the demolition of those buildings deemed to be in an unstable condition.
The years since 1953 have not been without incident. Zante has been shaken by a myriad of minor shocks since the great earthquake. A selective look at the seismic history of the area shows that, when the minimum magnitude is limited to 4.0 on the Richter scale, then between 1985 and 1999 there have been 104 earthquake events comprising a total of 841 recorded magnitudes. The majority of these events have been relatively minor but some have been quite significant. On 13th August 1985 a shock of 5.1 was recorded. Later that same year, on 16th October a shock measuring 6.0 on the Richter scale caused damage and landslides on Zante and brought injury to 25 people. In March 1993 there was a moderately heavy shock of magnitude 5.7 and then, on 18th November 1997 a significantly heavier shock of magnitude 6.8 destroyed one house on Zante and caused several injuries
It is clear that
seismic activity on the island is still significantly higher than it was during
the period 1508-1934 but the expectation is that, having experienced a major
shift in the tectonic plates within the earth, the activity will gradually
quieten down and offer a period of relative calm. Let us hope that the seismic
events over the past fifty years have taught some lessons to the local artisans
and that the rebuilding of the town, and that of Argostoli, has been done in
such a way as to limit the damage in the event of another major earthquake.
Platia Solomou as it was in 1953 and as it is today.
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