Leukaspis was a large port town, with a population around 15,000. It was probably an important trading center between Egypt and Libya, and appears to have been a major center for Cretian imports. The settlement was destroyed in 365, when an earthquake off the coast of Crete created a tsunami. The town was not rebuilt, partially due to the crumbling state of the Roman Empire. Leukaspis was lost until 1986, when a group of engineers who were building roads in Marina revealed ancient houses and tombs. of surrounding land was designated an archeological area, and excavations began in the 1990s. Prior to the site's discovery, the port area of the settlement was destroyed to make a man-made lagoon for a resort.