Armenian MPs hold moment of silence in honor of 1988 Spitak earthquake victims

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 7, ARMENPRESS. Members of Parliament of Armenia held a moment of silence in honor of the victims of the 1988 Spitak earthquake.

Speaker of Parliament Alen Simonyan made the respective proposal at the beginning of today’s session.

The Spitak earthquake shattered the peace of Armenia 34 years ago. 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. Spitak, Leninakan, Kirovakan, Stepanavan towns, over hundreds of villages and settlements of Spitak, Akhuryan, Gugark, Aragats, Kalinino, Stepanavan were fully or partially demolished during a few seconds.

More than 25 thousand people died, 514.000 people remained homeless. 17% of the housing resources broke down (over 8 million square meters of living area). 230 industrial objects with 82 thousand workplaces were ruined due to the quake. The economic damage of Armenia amounted to 13 billion RUB.