Spitak earthquake 1988. Five most powerful earthquakes in the history of Armenia

Here I propose to take a little break from our acquaintance with Armenia and completely immerse ourselves in history. In the city of Gyumri, the shadow of the terrible earthquake of 1988 lies over everything, and, in general, the scale of the tragedy is so great that I considered this topic worthy of a separate article.

The disaster occurred on December 7, 1988. To varying degrees, the earthquake was felt over a wide area from the Black to the Caspian Sea from east to west and from Grozny to the Iraqi border with Iran from North to South. The epicenter of a 10-magnitude earthquake with a magnitude of 7.0 was located 6-7 km northwest of Spitak.

The previous earthquake of comparable magnitude on the territory of the USSR occurred in Ashgabat in 1948. And the next biggest catastrophe is Chernobyl, from the moment of which not even two years have passed. It seems that some forces were deliberately shaking our country, helping to destroy the remnants of the Soviet Union.

The earthquake affected about 40% of the territory of Armenia. The city of Spitak and 58 villages were completely destroyed, followed by Leninakan (Gyumri), Stepanavan, Kirovakan (Vanadzor) and more than 300 other settlements.

Earthquake victims

The earthquake was accompanied by frost and strong winds, which added to the number of victims and difficulties to the work of rescuers.

Data from different sources varies slightly, but is more or less similar. According to the memorial inscription near the monument to the victims of the earthquake in Gyumri:

• Deaths: more than 25 thousand people
• Became disabled: 140 thousand people
• Extracted from the rubble alive: 16 thousand people
• Left homeless: more than a million (according to other sources - 520 thousand people, but still a lot)

The whole world helped Armenia. Airplanes with humanitarian aid, troops and volunteers were sent from 110 countries. At the time of the Spitak earthquake, I was 10 years old, and I clearly remember how my grandmother collected warm clothes in a large parcel, I especially remember a coat with a fur collar. I still wanted to put some encouraging note in my pocket, maybe even with an address, so that later, when everything had calmed down, I could make friends with the unknown recipient. But I still couldn’t figure out what to write.

At first, looting flourished in the affected cities, then all territories were taken under the control of troops, and they began to shoot on the spot for looting. In addition to volunteers and rescuers, teams appeared to clear the rubble for a fee. In general, many people made good money from what happened (based on these memoirs).

Several photos from the scene.

Causes of earthquake and destruction

You can fantasize a lot here, so I will simply state what I read/heard without claiming to be true.

Many citizens agree that the Spitak earthquake was a consequence of testing climate weapons. One man in Gyumri said that after the earthquake, large areas near Spitak were completely cordoned off, so much so that even rescuers could not get there. He was completely sure that there was something to hide there.

On the other hand, if we remember how densely our territories were stuffed with a variety of military facilities, it will be clear that even without climate weapons, there was something to protect in the destroyed units and warehouses. Well, the fact that it could cost someone’s life is unlikely to have bothered anyone then (however, I don’t think it could worry anyone now, remember Krymsk).

The reason for such monstrous destruction, in addition to the earthquake itself, was our Soviet mismanagement, which was especially evident in civil engineering, and by the end of perestroika, it had perhaps reached its apogee. In particular, to reduce the cost and speed up the production of housing, the seismic hazard of the area was specifically underestimated in the documentation.

“Powerful tremors shook off the plaster and paint mess, and wire was discovered instead of reinforcement, a weak cement-sand mixture instead of high-grade concrete, rusty ugly growths where there should have been an even weld seam.”(taken from here)

By the way, a similar situation occurred in China after the devastating Sichuan earthquake of 2008, when many schools and children collapsed like houses of cards due to the extremely poor quality of construction and the total theft of building materials. The Chinese even have a special term - "tofu school", that is, schools built from tofu instead of concrete.

For attempts to make public the true number of victims and the causes of destruction, which was carefully hidden by the authorities, the Chinese artist Ai Wei Wei was anathematized, brought under the necessary articles and almost rotted in prison (but he still has more to come).

Consequences of the Spitak earthquake

Initially, the government set a period of 2 years for the restoration of the affected areas, however, soon after this the Soviet Union collapsed, and therefore the period was pushed back somewhat... Actually, as I already said, the consequences of the 1988 earthquake have not yet been eliminated, although it has already passed more than 20 years.

Some elements of the destruction, such as fallen church domes, were specially left as a monument, but for the most part, all this is slightly covered with the dust of past years and in some places the patched-up devastation of those times.

Old house (crack, probably from the time of the earthquake)

Walking through the streets of Gyumri, you constantly come across cracked walls, the remains of houses, and empty windows. And everywhere, including the very center. There is another interesting element of the urban landscape here: temporary buildings.

In many places, the same trailers that temporarily housed people who lost their homes in 1988 still stand. But, as you know, there is nothing more permanent than something temporary.

The trailers were insulated, additional rooms were added to them, from which in some places entire houses grew. But the trailers themselves remained the same. As canopies, outbuildings, storage rooms and, of course, reminders.

However, I would not be at all surprised if I found out that there are still citizens who still live in them, just like they did 20 years ago.

In the center of Gyumri, opposite the temple almost restored after the earthquake, there is a memorial square with a fountain.

Monument to earthquake victims in Gyumri

Opposite the temple stands a monument to “Innocent Victims, Merciful Hearts,” depicting a pile of people and concrete blocks.

And a few more photos of the monument with details:

The inscription on the stone slab nearby in Russian and Armenian reads:

“At 11:41 a.m. on December 7, on a foggy and gloomy December day in 1988, the mountains trembled and the earth shook with great force.
Cities, villages, schools, kindergartens and industrial enterprises were instantly destroyed. More than a million people were left homeless.
In this tragic hour, 25 thousand people died, 140 thousand became disabled, 16 thousand were rescued from the rubble.
And the living looked for their loved ones among those buried under the ruins.
And the children called their parents, and the parents called their children.
And thousands with merciful hearts were with them in this grief.
And all the republics of the USSR and many countries of the world extended a helping hand to the Armenian people.
The people's grief for the innocent victims of the Spitak earthquake is deep.
May God rest their souls.
Eternal memory to them!”

I don’t know about anyone, but personally I was very touched by this monument.

On the opposite side of the square there is a memorial sign.

Next to the temple being restored there is a poster depicting what happened and what happened after the earthquake.

Well, that’s probably all that concerns the Spitak earthquake. To everyone who has read this article, I propose to honor the memory of the victims with a minute of silence, during which to reflect on the fact that most of our problems, in fact, are not worth a damn.

It happens like this: I am sure that certain events have long been forgotten, and suddenly you suddenly begin to remember.
Although 20 years have passed. After the earthquake in the Armenian city of Spitak, I went there as a volunteer rescuer.

Now I remember what happened there. And what didn't happen. I put my memories into two piles, what happened and what didn’t happen.
There were no stoves in the tents, no tents themselves, no bulldozers, no excavators. There were no jacks. There were no respirators. I tried to make them out of gauze, like surgical masks, but I couldn’t work in them, I needed special ones. Dust as such is harmful, and dust mixed with cement, asbestos, etc. is toxic. Did not have.
There were no cranes.

There was water. Of course, there was no need to wash, but there was something to drink. Mineral. Local. You can drink it, but the tea you get is unbearable disgusting.
There were coffins, free of charge. If you need it, come and take it. They appeared immediately, there were no volunteer rescuers, the fires were still burning, and the military coffins were already piled up at the stadium. Such long stacks. Almost on the very first day.

There were no sappers; there was no one to organize targeted explosions for clearing. The military gave us some bags, and one of the rescuers made cords (a hole in the rubble where a charge is placed, and the area around it is filled with sand). I asked him - where did you learn? and he says: what are you talking about! I've been here since childhood! In general, I entered the Technological University and missed half a point. But in general, our collapse wall is not cut that way. I smell it. So if we don’t get screwed now, I’ll definitely apply again.
There were construction safety helmets. A lot of. But this is for clearing the rubble from outside; rescuers do not need them. It’s still impossible to work in the rubble wearing a helmet.
There were many looters. If they don’t cover the dead with a tarpaulin, there is no strength to look, their fingers stick out in different directions at wild angles, the looters took off their rings.

There were no rescue ropes, drags, or emergency hoses. There were no jacks - I already said that. There were no boards to strengthen the galleries, drifts and manholes. The soldiers cut down furniture for this, and collected all sorts of fittings. It turned out badly: there was little furniture that survived, it was immediately taken away for firewood, and if there was any, it was too thin. But there were no boards, nothing to strengthen it with. You crawl, the rubble lives its own life, as if it is breathing. Scary.
There were military men. A lot of. With machine guns at the ready, like in war.
There were no geophones - devices capable of picking up sounds made by people; there were no trained dogs to search under the rubble.
There was alcohol. A lot of.

There was humanitarian aid. A lot, good. It was sold in all city markets. The military were busy protecting it, the authorities were busy distributing it, and the bandits were busy taking it away.
There were no lamps or spotlights. But they also worked at night. I can’t even explain how now. Somehow. Partly because it was cold to sleep: -10 degrees, not everyone had sleeping bags, there was no heating.
There were no diesel generators.
There were Austrian rescuers with specially trained dogs, which they carried over the rubble in their arms. Only once in my life has a man carried me in his arms, like they carry their dogs.
There were pseudo-victims of the earthquake in Yerevan asking for money from all sorts of authorities.
There was no “hour of silence” when they turn off all the equipment and listen - suddenly there are living people under the rubble. Because you need to listen to it with equipment, but there was none. The military had one suitable for these purposes, but already on the third day they were forbidden to give it to them due to secrecy. But sometimes you can hear it that way.

There was an elderly woman, she was knocking on the surviving pipe with a piece of brick, she could be clearly heard on the surface. We sorted it out for 14 hours. When part of it was dismantled, part of it was brought down, a hole was made, and I went down into the rubble to see it, because it was necessary to secure it on a stretcher. I sat there with her for three hours - I felt somehow embarrassed to leave, but when you say to them, “I’ll come back for you,” they don’t believe it, they immediately start howling. There were no jacks, no proper stretchers, no crane, only a homemade winch. It was difficult to drag. That's what she told me: baby! You can’t say such words to a young girl, no one will marry you!
They didn’t give us the plane back either, it didn’t happen. We flew at our own expense, via Krasnodar, God knows how.
I never saw the volunteer rescuers I was there with again. To write, to call each other - this did not happen.
It's good that we were there.
I think so.

On December 7, 1988, something happened that shocked the whole world: the monstrous murder of 350 thousand people - representatives of the civilian population of northern Armenia, as a result of testing four types of geophysical bombs that caused an artificial earthquake, which the Soviet leadership tried to classify as a natural earthquake.

In September 1988, Deputy Chairman of the USSR Council of Ministers Boris Shcherbina appeared in Armenia, who dealt with issues of testing nuclear weapons, military construction and planting scientific and technical devices in the explosion zone.
In October 1988, Dmitry Yazov appeared in Armenia again with a group of military specialists, senior officers of the General Staff of the USSR Ministry of Defense.

At the end of October 1988, Yazov and his retinue left Yerevan for the north of Armenia, where he personally inspected the redeployment of military equipment, the dismantling of stationary missiles and mobile missile launchers outside Armenia.
At the beginning of November 1988, rumors spread around Yerevan that “A terrible test awaits Armenia.” to the word "trial" not a direct, but a figurative meaning was given: no one, of course, had any idea about the testing of geophysical weapons.

From the summer to the end of November 1988, in an urgent but organized manner, under the leadership of the military and representatives of the KGB of the USSR and Armenia, all Azerbaijani villages were resettled to Azerbaijan and Georgia, starting from Kapan in the south, to Stepanavan, Kalinino and Ghukasyan in the north .

In November 1988, the wife of a Russian general, who was vacationing in the Arzni sanatorium, told confidentially (in her ear!) the wife of academician S.T. Yeremyan - Ruzan Yeremyan about what awaits Armenia in early December
“terrible disaster” and advised her to leave Armenia.
In mid-November 1988, pianist Svetlana Navasardyan received a call from an acquaintance from Leningrad who advised all Leninakans to urgently leave the city of Leninakan.
At the end of November 1988, a telephone operator in the city of Hrazdan overheard a conversation between a Russian general and Moscow, where he literally told his wife the following: “I’m delayed! I’ll come back after the tests.”
At the end of November - beginning of December 1988, dozens of cases were noted in Leninakan when the military, while remaining in the city themselves, sent their wives and children from Armenia to Russia without explanation.

On December 4, 5 and 6, 1988, powerful explosions occurred in the Spitak-Kirovakan area, causing an earthquake with a magnitude of 3-4.
The earth shook, the glass rattled; Running snakes and all sorts of living creatures appeared in the mountains - rats, moles. Residents said: “What are these damned military men doing to us? If this continues, they will destroy our houses too!”

On December 7, 1988, at 10:30 a.m., Turkish workers working on the right bank of the Arpa River near Leninakan abandoned their work and hastily retreated deeper into their territory.
At 11.00, a soldier came out of the gate from the territory of the training ground, located near Spitak, and said to the peasants working in the field harvesting cabbage: “Quickly leave! Now the tests will begin!”
At 11 hours 41 minutes in the area of ​​​​the city of Spitak and the village of Nalband, two powerful explosions were heard with an interval of 10-15 seconds: after the first explosion, the ground went horizontally, a column of fire, smoke and burning erupted from under the ground to a height of over 100 meters.

One peasant from the village of Nalband was thrown up to the level of the power line. At the top of Spitak, near a grocery store, a Zhiguli car was thrown towards a fence at a distance of 3-4 meters. Before the passengers had time to get out of the car, a second terrible explosion occurred, accompanied by an underground roar. This is the energy of the subsoil released! The city of Spitak went underground in front of the passengers of the car.

In Leninakan, 75 percent of buildings collapsed. After the first impact, high-rise buildings turned around their axis and after the second impact, settling down, they went underground to the level of 2-3 floors.
After testing geophysical weapons, the cities of Leninakan and Spitak were cordoned off by troops. Near Nalband, which was completely destroyed, the military cordoned off... a wasteland where the ground dropped 3-4 meters. It was forbidden not only to approach, but also to photograph this area.

Special military brigades that arrived in Leninakan were tasked with clearing out the military dormitory. They refused to rescue the civilian population from the ruins, citing the fact that: “There was no such order.” These were soldiers of the Tomsk Airborne Division, transported by plane to Yerevan in the summer of 1988, where Armenian girls greeted them with flowers.
In the absence of any rescue equipment, the surviving population of Leninakan and relatives who broke into the city raked the ruins of houses with their hands, from where, in the bitter frost, moans of the wounded and calls for help were heard.
In an instant, a city of half a million died in peaceful conditions in which, in addition to the townspeople, refugees from the Azerbaijan SSR lived in almost every house.

An angry crowd greeted Mikhail Gorbachev, who arrived in Lininakan on December 12, 1988, with angry exclamations: “Get out, murderer!” After which people who loudly expressed their indignation were arrested. Those who, starting from December 7, raked away the ruins of houses day and night, saving compatriots and removing the bodies of the dead, were arrested!

December 10, 1988 Seismologists from Japan, France, and the USA came to Leninakan. But they were never allowed to participate in the research, and they were also prohibited from conducting dosimetering of the territory. As a result, Japanese and French seismologists and geophysicists refused to sign an act in which the incident was called"earthquake of a natural nature."

On December 15, 1988, a military plane flying from Leninakan with military geophysicists on board crashed while landing in Baku. 20 specialists were killed along with the pilots. Data on the circumstances and causes of the death of the aircraft still classified.

On December 9, 1988, on Yerevan television, a seismogram of the “earthquake” was demonstrated by an employee of the Institute, Boris Karpovich Karapetyan. And already December 10, 1988 seismogram mysteriously disappeared from the locked safe of the director of the Institute.

After December 7, 1988, Armenians call Northern Armenia the “Disaster Zone”. Today there are few outright slow-witted people who believe that what happened - "natural earthquake".
Until now (after 20 years!), the once green slopes of the mountains, as a result of an atomic explosion of an underground (vacuum) nature, have not restored their forest cover.

When on December 8, 1988, New York newspaper correspondents asked Shevardnadze how he could comment "earthquake" in Armenia, followed by a stunningly truthful answer: “We did not expect the consequences of the earthquake to be so catastrophic”. A logical question arises - if the “earthquake” was natural, then how could the Kremlin leadership “expect” it?!

But the Kremlin could certainly have planned the geophysical tests on the territory of Armenia and been deceived in predicting the degree to which their results would be catastrophic.

The geophysicists who made the test calculations, the only ones who could certainly shed light on the terrible catastrophe, died under unclear circumstances, on the very same plane landing in Baku.

In February 1988, during a visit to Japan by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the USSR, when asked: "Does the Soviet Union Have Geophysical Bombs?", Georgy Shevardnadze replied: “Yes, we now have four types of geophysical bombs.” It was these four types of bombs that were tested on December 4, 5, 6, 7, 1988 in Armenia!

On December 29, 1991, the same geophysical (“tectonic”) weapon was used in Georgia. Georgian President Zviad Gamsakhurdia said in an interview with CBS correspondent Jeannette Matthews that “does not exclude the possibility of causing an earthquake in Georgia by the Soviet Army.”

In December 1996, Bagrat Gevorkyan published an article in the “Yusisapail” (“Northern Lights”) newspaper under the “Investigation” heading: « On December 7, 1988, geophysical weapons were used against Armenia» . The preamble to the article says: “Geophysical (tectonic) weapons are the newest type of weapons that cause artificial earthquakes. The principle of operation is based on the precise directionality of acoustic and gravitational waves of an underground nuclear explosion."

...And, after 26 years, I see the same terrible picture - an old man with a bloody face and crazy eyes stands on the ruins of his own house. Clutching the body of his dead grandson, he screams at the top of his lungs: "Oh my God! Why?! No no no! Lord, no! This is not an earthquake!

A series of tremors in 30 seconds practically destroyed the city of Spitak and caused severe destruction to the cities of Leninakan (now Gyumri), Kirovakan (now Vanadzor) and Stepanavan. In total, 21 cities were affected by the disaster, as well as 350 villages (of which 58 were completely destroyed).

In the epicenter of the earthquake - the city of Spitak - its strength reached 10 points (on a 12-point scale), in Leninakan - 9 points, Kirovakan - 8 points.

The 6-magnitude earthquake zone covered a significant part of the territory of the republic; tremors were felt in Yerevan and Tbilisi.

The catastrophic consequences of the Spitak earthquake were due to a number of reasons: underestimation of the seismic danger of the region, imperfect regulatory documents on earthquake-resistant construction, insufficient preparedness of rescue services, slowness of medical care, and low quality of construction.

The commission to eliminate the consequences of the tragedy was headed by the Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR Nikolai Ryzhkov.

In the first hours after the disaster, units of the USSR Armed Forces, as well as the Border Troops of the KGB of the USSR, came to the aid of the victims. On the same day, a team of 98 highly qualified doctors and military field surgeons, led by USSR Minister of Health Yevgeny Chazov, flew from Moscow to Armenia on the same day.

On December 10, 1988, after interrupting his official visit to the United States, Mikhail Gorbachev, General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee, Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, flew to Leninakan with his wife. He got acquainted with the progress of the ongoing rescue and restoration work on the spot. At a meeting with the heads of Union ministries and departments, priority tasks for providing the necessary assistance to Armenia were discussed.

In just a few days, 50 thousand tents and 200 field kitchens were deployed in the republic.

In total, in addition to volunteers, more than 20 thousand soldiers and officers took part in the rescue operations; more than three thousand units of military equipment were used to clear the rubble. The collection of humanitarian aid was actively carried out throughout the country.

The tragedy of Armenia shocked the whole world. Doctors and rescuers from France, Switzerland, Great Britain, Germany, and the USA arrived in the affected republic. Planes carrying medicines, donated blood, medical equipment, clothing and food from Italy, Japan, China and other countries landed at the airports of Yerevan and Leninakan. Humanitarian assistance was provided by 111 states from all continents.

All material, financial and labor capabilities of the USSR were mobilized for restoration work. 45 thousand builders from all Union republics arrived. After the collapse of the USSR, the restoration program was suspended.

The tragic events gave impetus to the creation in Armenia and other republics of the USSR of a qualified and extensive system for preventing and eliminating the consequences of various emergency situations. In 1989, the State Commission of the USSR Council of Ministers for Emergency Situations was formed, and after 1991, the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations.

In memory of the Spitak earthquake on December 7, 1989, the USSR issued a commemorative coin of 3 rubles, dedicated to the people's assistance to Armenia in connection with the earthquake.

On December 7, 2008, a monument dedicated to the tragic events of 1988 was unveiled in the center of Gyumri. Cast using collected public funds, it is called “For Innocent Victims, Merciful Hearts.”

The material was prepared based on information from RIA Novosti and open sources

On Wednesday December 7, 1988 at 11:41 local time in northern Armenia, then a republic within the Soviet Union, experienced a powerful earthquake known throughout the world as the Spitak earthquake. The magnitude of the earthquake was 6.8 on the surface wave magnitude scale, and the intensity of the earthquake is characterized as X on the Medvedev-Karnik scale. The area where the earthquake occurred is considered quite vulnerable to large and destructive earthquakes due to its location in a huge seismic belt stretching from the Alps to the Himalayas. Seismic activity in this belt is associated with the interaction of tectonic plates; the direct source of the earthquake was a thrust north of Spitak.
According to official data, 19 thousand people became disabled, at least 25 thousand people died (but there is information about the number of victims at 150 thousand), more than 500 thousand people were left homeless.

Seismologists carefully studied the effects of the earthquake in Armenia, including the main shock and a series of aftershocks, and were at the site of the disaster until the end of 1988. Experts carefully checked the construction conditions of buildings in the region and concluded that the buildings are not suitable for seismically hazardous areas. Most of the buildings in Spitak were built in the 60-80s of the 20th century. The cities of Spitak, Leninakan (now Gyumri) and Kirovkan (now Vanadzor) were heavily damaged, and large quantities about human casualties. A number of small villages located far from large populated areas were also destroyed.
Despite the Cold War, Mikhail Sergeevich Gorbachev formally asked the US government for humanitarian assistance a few days after the earthquake, the first time this had happened since the end of World War II. One hundred and thirteen countries sent the necessary amount of humanitarian aid to the USSR in the form of rescue equipment, search teams and medical equipment, but private donations and assistance from non-governmental organizations were also significant.
During the rescue operation, two planes crashed - a Soviet one, which was transporting 78 rescuers from Azerbaijan, and a Yugoslav one.
In support of the earthquake victims, artists from different countries held charity concerts and other events, released records, the proceeds from the sale of which were sent to the affected areas of Armenia.

Story. Beginning in the late 1980s, the Caucasus experienced a serious political crisis: huge and almost constant political demonstrations began in Yerevan in February 1988. Fifteen months before the earthquake, hundreds of thousands of protesters representing the Karabakh Committee demanded a transition to democracy and the unification of Armenia with the Nagorno-Karabakh region, which was ruled by the Azerbaijan SSR but was 80% populated by ethnic Armenians. The protests and opposition movement began in September 1988 with negotiations between the Karabakh Committee and Mikhail Gorbachev and continued throughout 1988 and 1989. Relations between the USSR authorities and Armenian society deteriorated as early as March 1988 and reached a climax by November when a state of emergency was declared and a curfew was imposed. In addition, approximately 50,000 Armenians fled ethnic violence from Azerbaijan.

Earthquake. The source of the earthquake was 40 kilometers south of the Main Range of the Caucasus, a mountain range that lies on the convergent boundary between the Arabian and Eurasian plates. This mountain range is located in a seismic belt stretching from the Alps in Southern Europe to the Himalayas in Asia. Seismicity in this belt is manifested by strong earthquakes in the area from the Aegean Sea through Turkey and Iran to Afghanistan. Although seismic events in Armenia are not as frequent as in other segments of the belt, the rapid deformation of rocks here is associated with fault activity and volcanic activity. Mount Ararat, with a height of 5137 meters, is an extinct volcano, located 100 kilometers from the epicenter of the earthquake in Turkey.
The earthquake occurred along a well-known 60-kilometer-long thrust zone that parallels the Caucasus Range and is oriented north-northeast. UC Berkeley seismologist Bruce Bolt examined this thrust in 1992 and found that vertical mixing was 1 meter along most of the zone, reaching 1.6 meters in the southwestern part. During the earthquake, the northeastern part of Spitak shifted and collided with the southeastern part.
Modeling established that the fault arose at a depth of about 5 kilometers with an epicenter in the Alavar zone on the slopes of the Lesser Caucasus north of Mount Aragats. The main shock ruptured the surface and propagated westward, with a separate strike-slip event occurring south of the epicenter. A total of five separate earthquakes occurred in the first 11 seconds after the strongest shock, the largest of which was a magnitude 5.8 and occurred four and a half minutes after the main shock.

Intensity. The strongest tremors were felt in the Spitak area. Significant tremors were also recorded in Azerbaijan, Georgia and Iran. The intensity of the earthquake was X points on the Medvedev-Karnik scale in Spitak, and IX points in Leninakan, Kirovakan and Stepanavan. The intensity was 7 points in Tabakskuri and Borjomi, 6 points in Bogdanovka, Tbilisi and Yerevan, 5 points in Gori, 4 points in Makhachkala and Grozny, 3 points in Sheki and Shemakha.

Damage. Some of the strongest tremors occurred in industrial areas with developed chemical and food industries, electrical plants and substations. The Metsamor (Armenian) nuclear power plant, located about 75 kilometers from the epicenter, experienced only minor tremors and no damage, but was eventually closed after six years due to the risk of earthquakes. It was reopened in 1995 despite criticism of the plant's design and political instability in the Caucasus. At the time, International Atomic Energy Agency assistant director-general Morris Rosen said: "You should not have built a plant on this site based on what is known at this time."
Many buildings failed to withstand the earthquake and the ruins were unsurvivable, and the lack of effective medical care and poor planning contributed to the catastrophic consequences of the earthquake. The buildings that were not destroyed had good masonry and were constructed in such a way that the building could withstand seismic waves.
Most bridges, tunnels and other public infrastructure withstood the earthquake, but the same could not be said about local hospitals, most of which were destroyed, two-thirds of doctors were killed, equipment was destroyed and medical services were in short supply on almost everything.
Soviet media and officials soon began to discuss the reasons that led to the destruction of such a huge number of buildings. Mikhail Gorbachev, in a television interview after returning from New York a few weeks after the earthquake, said that the individual blocks used to construct the buildings contained too much sand and too little concrete, and suggested that the concrete had been stolen. Leonid Bibin, deputy chairman of Gosstroy, said that many new houses were destroyed and that he was starting an investigation into this and that several criminal cases would be opened. The official organ of the CPSU, the newspaper Pravda, wrote that poor construction, like other negative phenomena in the USSR, can be associated with the “era of stagnation.”

A team of earthquake experts from the United States spent the period from December 1988 to January 1989 in Armenia. The group, which includes building safety experts, agreed that deficiencies in construction were the main cause of damage during the mild earthquake, although it is clear that the extremely cold winter contributed to the death toll. Experts assessing damage to buildings and rescuers dismantling destroyed buildings and pulling people out of the rubble also noted serious deficiencies in the construction. The USSR changed the design of buildings to link construction to seismic risk, but also recognized that many buildings were not designed to withstand an earthquake with a magnitude of about 7. One Soviet expert explained that construction in Armenia is carried out with the intensity of on the Medvedev-Karnik scale from 7 to 8, but due to the proximity of the outbreak to populated areas and its shallow depth, it amounted to 9-10 points.
Three cities close to the epicenter had varying levels of damage. The cities of Leninakan and Kirovakan are located approximately the same distance from the epicenter, but in Leninakan the damage was much greater. This can be explained by the 300-400 meter thick sedimentary rocks that lie beneath the city. A comparative analysis of the damage to these cities showed that 62% of buildings were destroyed in Leninakan, and 23% in Kirovokan. In Spitak, by the way, almost 100% of houses were destroyed.
At the end of December, when the last living person was pulled from the rubble, the rescue operation was curtailed and the cleanup of the cities from the remains of destroyed buildings began. Thirty-five days later, six more people who were in the basement of the nine-story building when the tremors began were unexpectedly found alive. For more than a month, with only minor injuries, they ate fruits, pickles and compotes, surviving in the ruins, unable to reach the surface.

Study of seismic processes. The region where Armenia is located is of interest to seismologists and geologists because of its proximity to the collision boundary, where strong earthquakes can occur and due to partial aftershocks after earthquakes, and the relatively little knowledge of faults. Twelve days after the main shock, Soviet and French seismologists installed a temporary seismic network in the epicentral region to record aftershocks. The initial part of the work included almost a week of setting up and optimizing the seismographs and two full weeks of continuous operation of 26 seismographs over an area of ​​more than 1,500 square kilometers. The final stage took place over seven weeks (until the end of February 1989), when monitoring continued at 20 seismographs.

Soil liquefaction. As a result of the earthquake, buildings and other structures, as well as roads and railways, were significantly damaged.
Many earthquake histories show that liquefaction occurs in sandy soils, but it is very rare for rock or gravel soils to liquefy. In some situations, sand with rocks can have the same effect as pure sand. The first well-documented case of liquefaction in gravelly sands was described during the 1983 Borah Peak earthquake in the United States. Several studies have been carried out and have shown that liquefaction in such cases is present in soils with low permeability, as it prevents the pressure in the pore water from decreasing.
Three points between Spitak and the village of Nalband, which were several kilometers from the epicenter, were examined for liquefaction. The first point was on the highway connecting the most affected cities, and adjacent to the tributary of the Pambak River, where groundwater was close to the surface of the earth. The embankment of the road was broken and although the highway was very quickly restored, as a result of the damage, it was impossible to transport cargo and people along the road for several days. Numerous sand emissions were noted in the area northwest of Spitak, including one located 15 meters from the destroyed road.
The second point was located close to the epicenter, also near the Pambak River and had similar soils, but the soils did not experience liquefaction, although there were the same accelerations as in the area of ​​​​the destroyed road.

Nuclear explosion. Some believed that the earthquake was the result of an underground nuclear explosion.

Rescue work. M.S. Gorbachev ordered 5 billion rubles to begin restoration work, saying the cost of restoration would exceed the cost of cleanup from the Chernobyl accident in Ukraine. Foreign aid was received after the earthquake for the first time since the end of World War II. This assistance was a by-product of the disaster, and had a positive impact on the development of Soviet-American relations. The cost of reconstruction would be a major obstacle to Gorbachev's plan to restructure the Soviet economy. Another negative effect of the disaster was that the Armenians were completely disappointed in Gorbachev due to his policy towards Karabakh.
The world responded quickly to the disaster in Leninakan and Spitak, with much of the aid coming from Europe in the form of cargo planes loaded with medical supplies, rescue equipment and trained personnel to assist in the recovery. The fittings were delivered from Latin America and the Far East. At the time of the earthquake, Gorbachev was in the United States and as soon as the scale of the disaster became known, he quickly left for the USSR to officially ask the United States for help from Moscow. The US responded immediately and sent doctors, medical equipment and rescue teams, and the first American plane arrived in Yerevan on the first weekend.
French rescuers arrived in Armenia in the late evening of December 9 and replaced the exhausted Armenian workers, who then returned to Yerevan. Japan sent cash assistance in the amount of $9 million, Italy supplied prefabricated houses for the victims, Germany offered to send more than a dozen heavy cranes.
Private donations were also significant.
American businessman and philanthropist Armand Hammer, known in the Soviet Union for financial assistance and humanitarian ties, flew to Armenia on his own Boeing 727 plane with a cargo of medicines provided by the American Red Cross.
Hammer, who worked for an oil corporation for decades, had a conversation with M.S. Gorbachev to bring about $1 million to Armenia for a relief fund. Half of the funds came from the California organization World Vision International, and the other half was Hammer's personal donation. The head of World Vision and a doctor who worked during the earthquake in Mexico in 1985 also flew to Armenia.
Bureaucratic obstacles clearly hampered the rescue efforts. The Pravda newspaper pointed out that the lack of cranes meant the loss of precious seconds and hours to save people. It was also stated that there were not enough people for search teams, although there were more than enough advisers. Health Minister Yevgeny Chazov called for the creation of a government body to assist in the aftermath of natural disasters. Baxter International (an American healthcare company headquartered in Dilfird, Illinois) designed and delivered to Armenia a flying medical laboratory with a set of 20 dialysis machines that were supposed to be used to treat victims with compartment syndrome, but delays in visas led to to the fact that they could not start treatment for another four days. Most hospitals were destroyed and their staff had no experience caring for such patients. In the USSR, in general, few places dealt with such injuries, so great difficulties arose in treating the syndrome. Prompt treatment is required to prevent death or severe kidney damage, but victims did not receive adequate treatment or dialysis and, as a result, most died before the first foreign dialysis machines arrived.

Consequences. Musician Pierre Schaeffer worked in the French rescue brigade in Leninakan until all foreign workers were asked to leave the ruins, since there could be no survivors under them and they began to raze the ruins to the ground.
The total number of volunteers in Leninakan was 2,000 people; rescue teams flew in from Austria, Canada, Switzerland, the USA and Yugoslavia.
However, during the rescue operation there were real tragedies - seventy-eight people died when a Soviet Il-76 plane carrying rescuers crashed on approach to Leninakan airport. In foggy conditions near the airport, a helicopter taking off from the airport collided with an aircraft approaching to land. Leninakan airport was too small to handle a large number of flights. In the first days after the earthquake, the airport received up to 180 flights per day, which was a lot for an airport of this class. Therefore, Yerevan Airport, which also did not have personnel capable of managing large traffic flows, became an additional airfield for the delivery of humanitarian aid.
The second plane crash occurred the next day in Yerevan, when a Yugoslav transport plane carrying humanitarian supplies crashed at the airport. All seven crew members were killed. The disaster occurred due to a misunderstanding between the pilots and dispatchers at the Yerevan airport in determining the flight altitude.
A group of French musicians with composer and singer Charles Aznavour, who has Armenian roots, released the song “For You, Armenia” in 1989. Aznavour, together with the composer Georg Garvarents, also of Armenian origin, formed a foundation called “Aznavour for Armenia” and, through music, called on the world to help Armenia. It took six weeks to record the disc and the funds from the two million copies sold were enough to build 47 schools and three orphanages in the affected areas. In the UK, the Rock Helps Armenia organization was created to raise money to help those affected by the earthquake. In Washington, DC, in 1990, the Armenian Earthquake Monument was erected as a sign of gratitude to the Armenian people for their assistance in eliminating the consequences of the disaster.

Recovery. In February 1989, one hundred builders were sent to Leninakan to assemble temporary housing for the local population, and construction work was to be completed by early March. It was also planned to restore schools and factories. Building codes were updated to prohibit housing higher than four stories in the area and new buildings had to be located away from areas with the highest seismic hazards. There was a proposal to move the city several kilometers to the southwest.
By July 1989, approximately $500 million had been sent in humanitarian aid from 113 countries. Most of these funds went towards initial relief work and the construction of temporary housing. Yuri Mkhitaryan, an official representative of Gosstroy, reported that 342 villages were affected by the earthquake, and 58 were completely destroyed, and 130 factories were destroyed and 170 thousand people were left without work. Officials have acknowledged that the restoration work could take up to five years or more, although M.S. Gorbachev named a different figure (two years).
In Leninakan there was a need to build 18 hospitals, 12 of which could be financed with the help of the USSR republics, but foreign assistance would be needed to build six healthcare facilities.

Earlier earthquakes. On October 20, 1827, in the Spitak area there was already a strong earthquake with an intensity of VIII points, the epicenter of which was located 50 kilometers southeast of Spitak, and the earthquake in the Leninakan area on October 22, 1926 had an intensity of VII points.
In 893, an earthquake in the same region of Armenia claimed 20 thousand lives, but records of it were not accurate, so the location of the epicenter cannot be determined. In 1667, the number of earthquake victims was 60 thousand people. Other devastating earthquakes occurred in the region in 1894, 1899, 1914 and 1920.

Today. The region in which Gyumri (formerly Leninakan) is located is the poorest in Armenia, with unemployment here at least 11% of the working population. The city still has dilapidated buildings, although in 1988 they talked about a two-year restoration period. For which, we probably need to “thank” those gentlemen who destroyed the Soviet Union, since in this case, most likely, it would have been possible to restore everything at least in triple time. Until 1994, only 5,628 apartments were built with government subsidies, and in addition, another 20,770 apartments were built with funds from private funds.
In 2009 alone, the Armenian government launched a new program allocating nearly $200 million for construction in the area.
Many of those affected by the 1988 earthquake still do not have their own homes and live in dormitories.
One of the residents of Gyumri, still a young girl at the time of the earthquake, and today a 43-year-old woman with three children, still lives in a temporary house, asks: “Where is it.... Is this the solution? and thinks that she will have to wait until she dies for the housing she was promised back in 1988.
Another slum resident, a 60-year-old woman, says she was promised a permanent place to live long ago, but after 25 years she has not been given an apartment. “We are already losing hope,” she says.

Indeed, it was scary. I remember how shocked the people of the Soviet Union were when they learned about the earthquake in Armenia. At that time, this part of Armenia was the richest of the entire territory of the republic, but an earthquake that occurred in a country that was already falling apart turned the former flourishing region into a real hell, and then into the most backward region of independent Armenia
But even more terrible was what happened in 1995 in Neftegorsk. After all, the entire huge Union and the whole world helped Armenia (especially since ethnic Armenians from all over the Earth responded to the people’s misfortune). And Neftegorsk was left alone with the disaster.