Today marks 36th anniversary of devastating earthquake in Armenia 

ArmInfo. Today marks the  36th anniversary of the terrible and destructive earthquake in  Armenia, which took the lives of about 25 thousand people (according  to official data only), 514 thousand people lost their homes.

In total, 21 cities and 350 villages were damaged, 58 of which were  completely destroyed. In just a few seconds, the city of Spitak was  almost completely destroyed, significant damage befell Gyumri  (formerly Leninakan), Stepanavan, Vanadzor (Kirovakan).

The magnitude on the 12-point Richter scale in the epicenter of the  earthquake - Spitak - its strength reached 10 points, in Leninakan -  9 points, Kirovakan - 8 points. The village of Nalband, the closest  to the epicenter of the earthquake, completely went underground. In  connection with the anniversary, the Russian embassy in Armenia  published a statement, which says that a team of highly qualified  doctors and military field surgeons flew from Moscow with the news of  the terrible tragedy in Armenia. 

The commission for the liquidation of the consequences of the tragedy  was headed by the Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR  Nikolai Ryzhkov. Thanks to his skillful leadership of the contingent  of rescuers, 16 thousand people were saved from under the ruins, and  in total, 40 thousand people were helped in the destruction zone. In  2008, N. Ryzhkov was awarded the title of .   "We mourn together with the Armenian people for the victims of this  terrible tragedy," the embassy said in a statement.