Delegations of the government, Parliament, the City of Skopje and the Ministry of Defence, as well as representatives of political parties, the diplomatic corps, civil associations and other organizations, laid Tuesday wreaths at the monument commemorating the fatalities of the devastating earthquake of 1963, which occurred in Skopje killing 1,070 people, injuring 3,000 and reducing much of the Macedonian capital to rubble.

Marking the 53^rd anniversary of the disastrous earthquake, wreaths were also laid by delegations of public enterprises and cultural institutions of the City of Skopje, members of the Red Cross as well as officials representing many other public institutions in the country to pay respect to the victims.

A traditional blood drive is being organized by the Red Cross at the KIC center in Skopje, which also features an exhibition of photographs of the city through the decades.

At the MKC youth cultural center, Croatian architect Bosko Frzhop, who was part of the reconstruction efforts, is set to open an exhibition of photographs shot in the aftermath of the quake. Five Macedonian short films will also be screened. The event also features a concert by SIZ, Stuttgart Online and YOU. 

Furthermore, Skopje Mayor Koce Trajanovski will open a virtual exhibition of Skopje in 1963 at the Museum of the City of Skopje.

The earthquake, which measured 6.1 on the moment magnitude scale, equivalent to 6.9 on the Richter scale, occurred on 26 July 1963 at 5:17 am local time. The tremor lasted for 20 seconds and was felt mostly along the Vardar River Valley. Smaller aftershocks were felt until 5:43 am.

More that 15.000 homes and apartments were destroyed in the quake, and 28.000 were damaged. The disaster left 200.000 people homeless, many of them forced to seek shelter across Macedonia and then Yugoslavia, the others waiting in improvised tent cities until prefab housing was made available. Countries from around the world helped rebuild the devastated city, in a completely new architectural style and layout, with several large new urban zones added to the east, west and north.

The United Nations coordinated the support effort and despite the Cold War, both Eastern and Western bloc countries helped with resources and personnel. It is believed that the 1963 earthquake was at least the third time Skopje was destroyed in this fashion, with records existing of catastrophic earthquakes in 518 and 1555.