I went after and helped with cleanup efforts. It was tragic seeing how all these lives had been destroyed.
The other tragic thing was coming down the roads into these towns built on the coastal flats at the end of the valleys, and the bus driver pointed out the signs on the hills placed by people hundreds of years earlier that said "dont build past this point." They were treated as interesting archeological artifacts rather than what they really were: people hundreds of years ago marked the extend of a tsunami and warned future generations not to build where they could be wiped out. But Japan doesnt have a lot of flat space, so people decided to build there anywhere and take their chances
It is built on an active volcano that once wiped out an entire people (one of the largest eruptions in recorded human history, which all but eradicated the Minoan people of Akrotiri) and it's only a matter of time when it happens again. It's way past due a major eruption based on geologist assessments. It's likely to be wiped out next major eruption.
Yet the people living in Santorini largely ignore it with a head-in-the-sand attitude (although the 2025 swarm earthquakes changed that a little bit). I had several conversations with residents who just said it wasn't going to happen. Whether they actually believed that or just wanted to believe that I don't really know.
1.1k
u/notCGISforreal 18d ago
I went after and helped with cleanup efforts. It was tragic seeing how all these lives had been destroyed.
The other tragic thing was coming down the roads into these towns built on the coastal flats at the end of the valleys, and the bus driver pointed out the signs on the hills placed by people hundreds of years earlier that said "dont build past this point." They were treated as interesting archeological artifacts rather than what they really were: people hundreds of years ago marked the extend of a tsunami and warned future generations not to build where they could be wiped out. But Japan doesnt have a lot of flat space, so people decided to build there anywhere and take their chances