Residents of Greece’s Kalamata on Thursday marked the 32nd anniversary of the deadly earthquake that flattened parts of the city and claimed the lives of dozens of people in solemn ceremony at the memorial dedicated to the victims.
A minute’s silence was observed and officials spoke of the trauma caused by the disaster that struck the south-western corned of Peloponnese just after 8 pm on September 13, 1986.
A five-story apartment building, containing 17 apartments, on the Kalamata waterfront collapsed after the magnitude 6.2 earthquake hit.
Most of the old buildings became uninhabitable and many had to be demolished.
The residents of Kalamata were forced to leave the city and were transferred to nearby villages, where they stayed for weeks.
Others slept in tents and some were housed on ships that had been sent to the city.
The number of fatalities following the earthquake is still debated. Most experts say that the number of dead was 23, while others raise the death count to 35.
The city was in panic for days afterwards as strong aftershocks hit the area.
In the following months, prefabricated houses were built and the city slowly began to rebuild.
The catastrophic earthquake has been engraved in the memories of the people who lived through the nightmare.
September 13, 1986, is one of the darkest days in the history of Kalamata.