December 7 declared non-working day in Shirak and Lori regions

ArmInfo. December 7 declared non-working day in Shirak and Lori regions. The decision was taken at the November 29 meeting of the RA government.

As noted in his speech, the Acting Deputy Minister of Territorial  Administration and Development of the Republic of Armenia Vache  Terteryan, non-working The day for two specific regions of the  country is announced for the first time in connection with the tragic  events of 30 years ago. "It is necessary to enable people to honor  the memory of those who died in the terrible earthquake on December  7, 1988," the acting president stressed. Deputy Minister, adding that  the working day for these areas will be Saturday, December 15th.   December 7, 1988 at 11 hours 41 minutes local time in Armenia a  catastrophic earthquake occurred. A series of aftershocks in 30  seconds almost destroyed the city of Spitak and inflicted severe  destruction on the cities of Leninakan (now Gyumri), Kirovakan (now  Vanadzor) and Stepanavan. A total of 21 cities suffered from the  elements, 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-point earthquake zone covered a  significant part of the territory of the republic tremors were felt  in Yerevan. According to specialists, during the Spitak earthquake in  the zone of rupture of the earth's crust, energy was released  equivalent to the explosion of ten atomic bombs, each of which was  similar to the one dropped on Hiroshima in 1945. The wave caused by  the earthquake circled the Earth and was registered by scientific  laboratories in Europe, Asia, America and Australia.

The earthquake, according to official data, killed 25 thousand  people, 140 thousand became disabled, and 514 thousand people lost  their homes. The earthquake damaged about 40 percent of the  republic's industrial potential. General schools for 210 thousand  students, kindergartens for 42 thousand places, 416 health care  facilities, two theaters, 14 museums, 391 libraries, 42 cinemas, 349  clubs and cultural centers were destroyed or came to an emergency  condition. 600 kilometers of roads, 10 kilometers of railway tracks  were put out of operation, 230 industrial enterprises were completely  or partially destroyed.