Armenia remembers Spitak earthquake victims 29 years after big disaster
December 7 marks a day of mourning on the Armenian calendar as the country commemorates the anniversary of the tragic earthquake that claimed tens of thousands of lives, leaving many homeless.
The devastating quake, which covered almost 40% of the country, levelled, fully or partially, the town of Spitak (the epicenter), Leninakan (currently Gyumri, the second largest city), Kirovakan (Vanadzor, the third largest city), and over 100 towns and villages in the north-west of Armenia.
More than 25,000 people died and over 500 were left homeless. About 17% of the country’s housing fund (approx 8 million sq m) was destroyed, and over 230 industrial facilities (employing a total of 82,000 people) went idle.
A day after the disaster, a delegation led by Nikolay Ryzhkov, Chairman of the USSR Council of Ministers, arrived in Armenia from Moscow.
More than 113 world countries and seven international organizations lent their helping hand to the country.
Many states continued their assistance also in the following years. Italians and Austrians built a residential district in Spitak, Norwegians opened a temporary hospital, and English benefactors launched the Lord Byron School in Gyumri.
From 1989 until 2000, residential houses with an estimated total area of 3.5 million square meters were built in the disaster zone.