“….a spectacular rescue operation. They sent a fleet from the islands of Leros and Kalimnos to transport doctors and surgeons from the order to the island along with a significant provision of medicine and timber for temporary shelters. They also delivered tools to grind flour to counteract the lack of essential foodstuffs during the initial emergency phase….
“….In the next stage – rehabilitation – one of the most urgent countermeasures was temporary housing for the displaced population. These seismic encampments were usually composed of tents and wooden barracks, and were located either outside permanent settlements or in large open spaces. They were occupied for months, or even years, in order to reduce the risk of injury from structural collapse….”
The above description wouldn’t be out of place in the present day, but is in fact the response of the Knights Hospitallers to a dreadful earthquake on the Greek island of Kos in 1493.
The extract is from the conversation.com, which makes clear that in the medieval period people were well aware of the dangers of aftershocks.
Another account of the 1493 earthquake reads:-
“…Among the first counter-measures, the Order [Knights Hospitallers] sent Gerald of Saint Simon with his entire fleet to Kos to transport doctors and surgeons, medicines, timber for the erection of temporary encampments and millstones to support the production of bread, on top of large quantities of food and wine. Some days later builders were also dispatched to speed up the reconstruction of the castles in Kos and Antimahia, although the latter was eventually abandoned and rebuilt in a new location. Simultaneously, a tax reduction was granted to the local population, with the intention of minimising the abandonment of affected settlements. Recovery was very rapid and only a year later, the most strategic affected sites had already been restored to good condition. Over the next few years, the local population contributed financially to the reconstruction and paid, for instances, for the erection of new houses within the repaired and reconstructed castles of Kos and Antimahia. In this particular case, the exceptionally high economic and social investment was highly successful. The Florentine pilgrim Bonsignore Bonsignori, who visited Kos in 1497, noted that the town was completely ruined because of the earthquakes, and not even a house was still standing, but the Grand Master had already rebuilt is completely new nearby the old one.’….”
This all sounds extremely efficient and prompt, and could clearly teach us a few things to this day. So I looked for more information and discovered that the 1493 earthquake happened on 18 October at 2.30 pm, and was estimated to have killed 5,000 people. It’s also clear that Kos is unfortunate enough to still suffer from earthquakes.
murreyandblue 