Spitak earthquake commemorated in Armenia

ArmInfo. Today, December 7, commemorates the victims of the Spitak earthquake. 35 years ago, on December 7, 1988, a devastating earthquake occurred in Armenia, which, according to official data, claimed the lives of  25 thousand people, almost as many were injured, and 514 thousand people lost their homes. In 30 seconds, the city of Spitak was practically destroyed, Leninakan (now Gyumri), Stepanavan, Kirovakan (now Vanadzor) were destroyed. In total, 21 cities and regions of Armenia, as well as 350 villages, were affected by the earthquake, 58  of them were completely destroyed.

In connection with the consequences of the earthquake, various  government projects were implemented in Armenia, including those  related to providing housing for families affected by the earthquake.  Until 2008, 60 thousand earthquake-affected families received  housing; from 2008 to 2017, another 4,839 families were provided with  housing under the state program. At this point, the state announced  that it had completed a program to provide housing to urban families  affected by the consequences of the earthquake, although even at that  time it was known about more than 500 families who lived in rural  areas in temporary shelters.

In December 2018, the Armenian government assured that victims of the  1988 earthquake would receive housing by 2020. In 2019, a working  group under the government conducted an inventory of temporary  buildings in the Spitak earthquake zone. In Shirak, Lori and  Aragatsotn regions, there were 7,219 temporary buildings in which  about 25 thousand people lived. On July 26, 2019, authorities  reported that it was decided to relocate 453 families of victims from  temporary buildings to new housing. It was planned to allocate about  $6.3 million for these purposes, RA Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan  announced then. But the implementation was hindered by the pandemic  and the armed conflict in the fall of 2020.