Biggest quake: 2.9 quake 18 km south of Karanlukh, Gegharkunik, Armenia, 4 … According to the Los Angeles Times, 130 factories were destroyed and at least 170,000 people were out of work. But he had no thought of turning back. The … A woman looks at her destroyed house, on December 11, 1988, in the devastated town of Spitak, after an earthquake hit Armenia, on December 7, 1988. The U.S. — and the world — responded. In 735 A.D., the Vayots Dzor Province was struck by an earthquake with aftershocks that lasted for 40 days. The rupture occurred between 5 and 7 kilometers deep within the Pambak-Sevan thrust and fold zone at the base of the Lesser Caucasus Mountains. Submitted 18 June 1998 by Debra < QEagle@aol.com > as a Father's Day offering. Today in Armenia, Dec. 7 is a day of remembrance: Armenian Earthquake Memorial Day. In some of the cities, the loss of medical staff numbered between 70% to 80%. mewhat similar to the Modified Mercalli scale, and, After hurricanes, U.S. beach homes are rebuilt bigger, Geoethics in the Field: Leading by Example, Inside the inferno: How large firenadoes form, Wind or water? Located on the lawn outside the 17 th street Red Cross building in Washington D.C., is a 30-foot-tall bronze statue of a mother protectively embracing her child. The city of Dvin was completely destroyed by an earthquake in 893 A.D., with casualties ranging from 30,000 to 70,000. Areas to the southwest of Armenia, such as the northeastern Mediterranean coast, Turkey and Iran, are quite seismically active: More than four quakes with magnitudes greater than six have struck Turkey in the 20th century alone. Aftershocks continued in the area for months, some as large as magnitude 5.0. Spitak was almost completely demolished and the towns of Leninakan (Gyumri), Stepanavan, and Kirovakan (Vanadzor) were all greatly affected. Along with the collapse of the Trans-Caucasus electrical grid, Armenia was left with little-to-no heat and electricity for 1-2 hours a day, plunging Armenia into the "dark and cold years. Rescue teams and medical supplies were immediately dispatched to Armenia from the United States, France, India, and Cuba. Then-Armenian Assembly Board Chairman Hirair Hovnanian leading a delegation bringing humanitarian relief to Armenia after the 1988 earthquake WASHINGTON, D.C. – On the 30th Anniversary of the Spitak Earthquake, the Armenian Assembly of America (Assembly) remembers the thousands of lives lost and villages destroyed after a massive earthquake, registering 6.9 on the Richter Scale, struck… On December 7th 1988 Armenia was hit by a massive earthquake that claimed the lives of 25, 000 people and destroyed several cities. But Armenia is not historically devoid of seismic activity and has seen numerous devastating earthquakes. According to Radio Free Europe, a story published in January 1989 about six men being found 35 days after the earthquake, surviving on canned pickles and fruits, ended up being too good to be true. Gorbachev cut short his trip to fly back to Moscow. Despite international efforts towards rebuilding homes, only about 20% of Spitak's pre-quake homes were rebuilt by 1998. Northern Armenia comprises a mountainous plateau interspersed with populated river valleys and is home to a portion of the Caucasus Mountains, which sit along an active seismic belt spanning from the Alps in southern Europe to the Himalayas in Asia. Ultimately, the 1988 Spitak earthquake demonstrated the inadequacies of the entire international humanitarian system. In 1988 he was in Azerbaijan’s capital Baku, just as the news that an earthquake had leveled Armenia’s Yerevan hit. It left more than 25,000 people dead, over 15,000 wounded needing urgent care, and more than half a million homeless. In the final month of 1988, Armenia was struck by an earthquake that absolutely devastated the northern region of the country and displaced hundreds of thousands of people, throwing many into housing insecurity that's lasted over 30 years. “Despite the fact that all necessary measures are being taken … Mikhail Gorbachev believes that when … And although the Red Cross implemented training for emergency-response techniques and first-aid skills in the region, residents in the region are dismissive of these measures, claiming that compared to another earthquake, "unemployment and poverty are more terrifying.". Although there was a rumor that orphaned children were being given away to non-Armenian families, the rumor was never substantiated and likely came about due to misinformation and miscommunication. Several planes would be circling simultaneously, waiting for permission to land. Even Pope John Paul II donated $100,000. Many consider the poor living conditions to be responsible for their health problems. On December 7, 1988, an earthquake devastated the northwestern section of Armenia, killing an estimated 25,000 people. “In the Armenian Republic, thousands of people have died,” Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard A. Shevardnadze said at a news conference on Dec. 8, 1988. This disaster produced an unprecedented worldwide response to its traumatic consequences. The story was quickly picked up by the international media, but it soon turned out that the story was fabricated by reporter Artyom Shahbazian in an effort to remind the international community of the disaster. Hurricane Harvey's most destructive force. All the hospitals around Spitak were destroyed, and 80 percent of medical personnel were killed. The supplies included three kidney dialysis machines to help victims crushed by collapsing buildings who experienced kidney failure. The town of Spitak was demolished; the nearby towns of Kirovakan and Leninakan also experienced heavy destruction, while rumbles were felt in Azerbaijan and Georgia. Throughout the 20th century, there were several earthquakes throughout Armenia, but none caused destruction comparable to the earthquake that struck Spitak in 1988. Thirty years ago this month, on Dec. 7, 1988, a magnitude-6.8 earthquake shook the northern region of the then-Soviet republic of Armenia. On 7 December 1988 a colossal earthquake hit Armenia, leading to the deaths of 20,000 people. President of the Soviet Union Mikhail Gorbachev was in New York City when he received a telegram from British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher describing what had happened and offering sympathy and aid. Click here for all copyright requests. Additionally, the AmeriCares Foundation of New Canaan, Conn., sent a plane with 45 tons of medical supplies. Thirty-two years ago, on December 7, 1988, one of the most terrible tragedies in the modern history of Armenia took place. For more of her work visit http://www.bethanyaugliere.com. Roughly two-thirds of those who perished as a result of the earthquake were under the age of 18 since the quake struck during the day while most children were at school. The 1988 Armenian earthquake, also known as the Spitak earthquake (Սպիտակի երկրաշարժ, Spitaki yerkrasharj), occurred on December 7 at 11:41 local time with a surface wave magnitude of 6.8 and a maximum MSK intensity of X (Devastating). Any copying, redistribution or retransmission of any of the contents of this service without the expressed written permission of the American Geosciences Institute is expressly prohibited. STEPANAKERT, DECEMBER 7, ARTSAKHPRESS: At 11:41 on that day, the northern regions of the Armenian SSR were shocked by a devastating earthquake, which was named after the epicenter as the … In one elementary school alone, 400 children were killed. In an attempt to offset a six-year-old energy crisis caused by blockades by Azerbaijan and Turkey, the Armenian government in mid-1995 reactivated a nuclear power plant at Metsamor, close since 1988. after the catastrophic earthquake in northern Armenia. At 11:41 a.m., the earthquake damaged nearly a third of the small country and destroyed the town of Spitak near the epicenter. And with so many of the roads destroyed and blocked by rubble, by the time relief crews finally arrived, they were "too late to save many lives," per VAHS. However, according to EVN Report, at the time Gorbachev had a turbulent relationship with the Armenian people due to the Soviet Union's refusal to honor Nagorno-Karabakh's annexation referendum in 1988. List of earthquakes in Armenia. As a result, the region has been plagued by sever earthquakes for thousands of years: an earthquake in 893 A.D. took an estimated 20,000 lives; another in 1667 took 80,000 lives. The Soviet Union also sent "500 of its best doctors" to Yerevan, per the AP. In all, 111 countries, 7 international organizations, and 53 national chapters of the Red Cross provided help to Armenia. “On the evening of the 7th, the “Time” program announced a huge earthquake in Armenia… International media reports noted criticism of the Soviet Union for its slow response and lack of preparedness. According to EVN Report, in Leninakan, 18,000 people were found in the ruins, "out of which 8,000 survived." Armenia. American Red Cross President Dick Schubert surveys the damage in Armenia following the earthquake in December. She is a graduate of the science communication program at the University of California, Santa Cruz, and holds a master’s degree in marine biology from Florida Atlantic University. Whenever the plates moving beneath Armenia … While Western media portrayed the Soviet relief operation as inadequate and reflective of the "wider failures of the Soviet system," international relief efforts can be considered to have been equally inadequate due to the non-compatible medical equipment and out-of-date medications supplied. Two-thirds of the victims were under 18. Abstract The study attempts to identify predictors of injuries among persons who were hospitalized following the Armenian earthquake of 7 December 1988. The Spitak earthquake shattered the peace of Armenia 32 years ago. Soviet Armenia had three major quakes in the first fifty years of existence in … Over 80% of the five-story buildings and over 85% of the nine-story buildings collapsed as a result. Updated 13 Dec 2020 18:56 GMT - There were 3 quakes of magnitude 2.0+ in or near Armenia during the past 30 days, the largest largest being a 2.9 event. All rights reserved. And ten years after the earthquake, almost $8 million in post-quake funds remained frozen in a Moscow bank after the collapse of the Soviet Union. On the morning of Dec. 7, the mainshock hit, strongly shaking the region for 30 seconds. Following an appeal for assistance from … According to Reuters, in 2008, the President Serzh Sarksyan pledged that rehousing and rebuilding the region would be complete by 2012, but the government keeps claiming delays due to "technical difficulties." With the collapse of the Soviet Union three years later, reconstruction became even more of an arduous task. According to the book, Armenia in Crisis: The 1988 Earthquake, the man answered: “What do my hands matter, everything I cherish is under there – my son, my daughter, my wife and my mother.” Since the Spitak earthquake, Armenia has made efforts to study and monitor the country’s seismic activity and improve emergency preparedness. Armenia is located on the Alpine-Himalayan belt, or the Alpide belt, which is a seismic belt that runs from the Alps to the Himalayas, formed out of the tectonic collision between the Eurasian Plate and the Arabian Plate, per Earth Magazine. Often, it took up to five hours to travel 46 miles in order to reach hospitals in Yerevan. Since electricity and lights were unavailable during the first night, rescue efforts had to be put on hold during the evening and night until there was light. In northern Armenia, the 600-kilometer-long Lesser Caucasus Mountains experience north-south compression as the two plates converge, giving rise to seismic active in recent times: a magnitude-5 earthquake hit Spitak in 1967, a magnitude-5.7 earthquake struck Leninakan (now Gyumri) in 1926, and a magnitude-5.3 event hit Kirovakan in 1911. With the winter temperatures and domik windows made of cheap plastic instead of glass, sometimes people freeze to death during the night. A strike-slip component in the rupture meant that the blocks also moved laterally past each other, rather than just up or down. December 1988. Humanitarian organizations like the American and British Red Cross and Médecins Sans Frontières also invested their efforts, but according to Voluntary Action History Society, after an "initial media frenzy and relief operation," news about the earthquake's aftermath was soon absent from the headlines. On the morning of December 7th, it became clear that the previous quakes were merely foreshocks to the main quake, which hit at 11:41 AM local time, measuring a magnitude of 6.8-7.0. And although there are over 400 homeless people on the waiting list for housing, there are over 3,000 people who aren't even on the waiting list. In several cases, relief teams ended up stuck in Moscow because officials simply didn't know where to send them. The damage extended across an area of over 50 miles in diameter, per BBC. PanARMENIAN.Net - Armenia is commemorating the 32nd anniversary of the devastating earthquake that hit the northwestern regions of the country on December 7, 1988… Although the Soviet Union had said that reconstruction should take roughly two years, by 1989, it was clear that reconstruction was going to take at least nine more years. In addition to government aid, American Armand Hammer, a philanthropist who headed Occidental Petroleum Corp., flew to Armenia on Dec. 10 with a planeload of medical supplies and a $1 million donation. The earthquake left deep scars on the land, as well as on the lives of survivors. At least 259 aftershocks were recorded from December 22nd to January 1st, 1989. In the town of Spitak, out of 36 hospitals, 24 were completely destroyed and 8 were partially destroyed. After the weight has been lifted and blood flow is restored, these cell contents start to flow through the body and can lead to cardiac and renal failure. Upwards of 10,000 people were reported to have been killed, mostly by the resulting landslides. The 1988 Armenian earthquake, also known as the Spitak earthquake (Սպիտակի երկրաշարժ Spitaki yerkrašarž), occurred on December 7 at 11:41 local time with a surface wave magnitude of 6.8 and a maximum MSK intensity of X (Devastating). The destruction happened so fast that people thought the city had been bombed. On December 11th, a Soviet cargo jet crashed as it reached the Leninakan airport, resulting in the deaths of 78 people. Two earthquakes hit Armenia on December 7, 1988, killing 60,000 people and destroying nearly half a million buildings. Officials think that it could take 10-15 more years to get rid of all the temporary shelters, but there still isn't a plan to ensure housing security for all of the displacement caused by the 1988 earthquake in Armenia and its aftermath. With average winter temperatures of 14 degrees Fahrenheit, residents in Gyumri have to use small portable stoves to keep warm. “Over the last two weeks, the hearts of the American people have gone out to the people of Armenia as they grappled with the earthquake disaster and its aftermath,” said President Reagan in a Dec. 22 speech in the White House. Dozens more aftershocks occurred over the next several months. Region Time Mag. Despite Cold War tensions, Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, who was in the U.S. on the day of the quake visiting the United Nations and meeting with President Ronald Reagan, asked for humanitarian aid from the United States within days of the event. Red Cross flights brought materials from Eastern and Western Europe, and Britain sent firemen and rescue experts as well as two planes with more than 50 tons of food and medical supplies. For some, like Ara Tadevossian and his mother, there's a belief that it might have been tragically fortunate not to be rescued in the first few days, simply because everything had been destroyed and it might not have been possible to airlift people to safety earlier. An Armenian man who was found digging with his fingers and hands was told by a doctor that if he continued to dig that way, he risked amputation. For trapped individuals, death rates were 81.4%. Four minutes later, a magnitude 5.9 aftershock hit. Spitak (Armenian: Սպիտակ), is a town and urban municipal community in the northern Lori Province of Armenia.It is 96 km (60 mi) north of the capital, Yerevan, and 22 km (14 mi) west of the provincial centre, Vanadzor.Spitak was entirely destroyed during the devastating 1988 earthquake, and it was rebuilt in a slightly different location. With its epicenter located in the town of Spitak, the northwestern region of Armenia shook for approximately 30 seconds. “In the Armenian Republic, thousands of people have died,” Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard A. Shevardnadze said at a news conference on Dec. 8, 1988. On Dec. 10, three days after the quake, three cargo planes carrying U.S. medical supplies and rescue teams, including dogs trained to sniff out survivors buried in the rubble, left Washington, D.C., and a military base in Italy, headed for the Armenian capital of Yerevan, about 100 kilometers from Spitak. As a result, there were few seismic hazard studies done in the region. However, according to Earth Magazine, these quakes didn't receive much attention because few thought that there was a serious seismic risk in the region. Water and electrical supplies were also cut off and although some of the electricity was repaired within a week, according to the Electric Power Research Institute, many residences didn't have their electricity restored for months after the earthquake. One of several reasons why so many buildings suffered so much damage is that the Soviet Union "had only one building code for the entire territory," regardless of whether or not the building was in a coastal or earthquake region. Between 25,000 and 100,000 people are estimated to have died, upwards of 130,000 were injured, and half a million people were rendered homeless. ", All of this resulted in a massive disruption of the reconstruction plans. Gorbachev was asleep in a New York hotel when the quake hit. After a brief photo-op with President-elect George Bush Sr. and President Ronald Reagan, Gorbachov cut his trip short and flew back to Moscow. Although there were attempts to direct gas pipelines from Georgia, "seven times from late January to mid-March 1993, Azerbaijani saboteurs blew up gas pipelines in Marneuli." The effects of the earthquake were absolutely devastating. The next day, it became obvious that this small event was a foreshock. According to Associated Press, the plane was carrying medical supplies and tragically all seven crew members died in the crash. In 1996 the seismic zoning maps were redrawn for the entire country, and in 1994, and again in 2006, the building codes were strengthened. Despite tensions between the Soviet Union and the United States as a result of the Cold War, according to The Washington Post, in response to the earthquake, the Soviet Union asked for and received aid from the United States. Today marks 32nd anniversary since 1988 earthquake in Armenia. What really happened with that huge earthquake in Armenia? According to The New York Times, most of the medical assistance that was sent for the earthquake, unfortunately, ended up being "of little value. And according to "The Earthquake of Spitak, Armenia, and Its Socio-economic Implications," by the next year, with the fall of the Soviet Union, the goal of reconstruction by 1998 was once again postponed since the newly independent Armenia realized that it simply couldn't keep the reconstruction program on track. A total of 189 such individuals were identified through neighbourhood polyclinics in the city of Leninakan and 159 noninjured controls were selected from the same neighbourhoods. Meanwhile, the first rescue teams didn't arrive until December 10, with chances of survival falling under 50% within six hours after an earthquake. Jump to navigation Jump to search. The country had no disaster contingency plans and rescue efforts were disorganized, which led to more deaths. Compared to the 2010 earthquake in Haiti which created roughly $7.8 billion in damages, the 1988 Spitak earthquake created $16.2 billion in damages. Volunteers from international countries left because of a collapsed infrastructure and lack of construction materials. Armenian and international foundations have been primarily responsible for building over 20,000 apartments since 1988. On December 7, 1988, an earthquake with a magnitude of6.9 on the Richter Scale struck Armenia (population 3.5 million). Latest earthquakes in or near Armenia past 30 days. Witness speaks to Anahit Karapetian who was trapped for hours under the rubble of her school. Despite the international relief efforts, the earthquake zone is still considered a disaster zone, and rebuilding has been slow, with recovery hampered by the collapse of the Soviet Union and subsequent war with Azerbaijan. It was followed four minutes later by a magnitude-5.9 aftershock; together these quakes caused extensive damage across a 400-square-kilometer area. 140,000 people were injured and 500,000 more were left homeless. According to "The Earthquake of Spitak, Armenia, and Its Socio-economic Implications" by Johanna Schott and Talin Kalatas, the insufficient design of the buildings meant that almost all medical care stations and hospitals suffered severe damage. The Armenian National Survey for Seismic Protection was founded in 1991, in addition to the Emergency Management Administration. “Crush syndrome,” which occurs when damaged tissues release toxins and alter blood chemistry leading to renal failure, is a common cause of death in large earthquakes. However, weather conditions made air evacuations of victims incredibly difficult, as did damage to railways and roads. However, 30 years later, thousands remain living in temporary houses or "domik" shanties created from old shipping containers. Rescue efforts continued until December 24th, after which the focus turned towards large scale clearing of the rubble. Since most of the buildings had high seismic vulnerability, the newspaper Pravda attributed the scale of the destruction to the poor quality standards of buildings made during Brezhnev's term, according to EVN Report. But the region had no historic record of seismic events above magnitude 5.7 and thus it had received little attention in seismic hazard studies. Although some people were rescued as long as 19 days after the earthquake, thousands succumbed to hypothermia in the freezing winter conditions. The devastating earthquake, measuring 10 degrees on the MSK scale, took place in 40% of the territory of Armenia at 11:41 (local time), December 7, 1988. By Jolyon Naegele Prague, 17 March 1998 (RFE/RL) -- Nearly ten years ago, on December 7, 1988, a massive earthquake rocked northwestern Armenia, killing some 50,000 inhabitants. The two tremors, only minutes … It arrived too late for emergency medical treatment." On 7 December 1988, Armenia was hit by a devastating earthquake. On December 6th, 1988, the northern region of Armenia was hit by a magnitude 3.0 earthquake at 3:27 in the afternoon followed by a larger aftershock that measured 5.8 almost five minutes afterward. On 7 December 1988 a devastating earthquake in northern Armenia killed 25,000 and left hundreds of thousands homeless in the Soviet republic. On the day of the quake, two men arrive in their home town only to be caught up in the terrible events and must work together to rescue as … The world united with an outpouring of assistance for relief efforts, which was desperately needed. After the Soviet Union fell, Azerbaijan put a fuel embargo on Armenia in response to the war over Nagorno-Karabakh, blocking a natural gas pipeline from Turkmenistan. While most electrical substations were repaired within a week, electricity was not restored to many residences for months, according to a 1991 report by engineers for the Electric Power Research Institute. Coupled with non-compatible medical equipment, the relief effort mostly just exposed the poor planning and flaws when it came to international humanitarian aid. On Dec. 6, 1988, a magnitude-3 earthquake hit northern Armenia, though it received little attention because of the perceived lack of serious seismic risk in the area. This mountain system began to form during the Late Triassic, largely from the tectonic collision between the Arabian Plate and the Eurasian Plate. “Despite the fact that all necessary measures are being taken … Mikhail Gorbachev believes that when a people is suffering, he has to be there and he himself has to lead the efforts.” The quake came on the heels of Gorbachev’s historic speech at the United Nations in which he called for an end to the Cold War and said that Soviet Troops would withdraw from Eastern Europe. Many children ended up being sent to the United States for medical treatment, staying there during their recovery until going back to Armenia. Rescue efforts underway after earthquake strikes the Soviet republic of Armenia – ABC News On December 6th, 1988, the northern region of Armenia was hit by a magnitude 3.0 earthquake at 3:27 in the afternoon followed by a larger aftershock that measured 5.8 almost five minutes afterward. Overall, 342 villages and 11 cities were damaged. © 2008-2020. By the time the Soviet Union collapsed, less than 20% of the lost housing had been rebuilt. This was the first time the Soviet Union had accepted help from the U.S. government since World War II. Armenia is a small country about the size of Maryland that borders Turkey to the west, Iran to the south, Azerbaijan to the east and Georgia to the north. Crush syndrome occurs as a result of toxins being released by crushed muscle tissue. It was a message of peace.”. According to Nature, not many seismologists thought that an earthquake as severe as the Spitak earthquake "was possible in the region." In Armenia, the Arabian plate abuts against the Eurasian (Europe-Asia) plate. And with inadequate local dialysis infrastructure, "with no preconceived regional or international organizations for renal rescue analysis," by the time it was possible to treat people with crush syndrome, the severe cases had already passed away while the mild and moderate ones had already recovered. When muscles get crushed, their cells start to leak and die, and their contents, including potassium and myoglobin, start to build up. Augliere is a freelance writer and photographer and a former editorial intern with EARTH. According to "The 1988 Earthquake in Soviet Armenia," upwards of 30% of people received "no on-site medical assistance" and many were taken to hospitals in Soviet Georgia or unaffected parts of Armenia. This is an incomplete list of earthquakes in Armenia. 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