36 years have passed since devastating Spitak earthquake

Today is December 7, the day of remembrance for the victims of the 1988 Spitak earthquake. 36 years ago on this day, at 11:41, the earthquake took the lives of 25 thousand people, more than half a million people became homeless.

As a result of the earthquake, about 40% of Armenia's industrial potential was disabled. The city of Spitak and 58 villages were completely destroyed, as well as the towns of Gyumri, Stepanavan, Vanadzor and more than 300 settlements.

The consequences of the disaster were so terrible that for the first time since the end of World War II, the leader of the Soviet Union officially requested humanitarian assistance from the United States of America.