An earthquake destroyed a city in 30 seconds

In the north-west of Armenia, on December 7, 1988, an earthquake measuring 7.2 on the Richter scale occurred. The city of Spitak and 58 villages were completely destroyed, partly - the cities of Leninakan, Stepanavan, Kirovakan and more than 300 settlements. At least 25,000 people died, 514,000 were left homeless.

At 12:41 local time in the north-west of Armenia one of the most destructive earthquakes in history occurred. At least 25,000 people died, about 140,000 more became disabled. At the epicenter of the earthquake - Spitak - the intensity of shocks reached 9-10 points (on a 12-point MSK-64 scale).

The city was destroyed in 30 seconds. Tremors were felt in Yerevan and Tbilisi. The wave caused by the earthquake circled the planet 2 times and was registered by scientific laboratories in Europe, Asia, America and Australia.

In general, the disaster covered about 40% of the territory of Armenia. Almost half of the country's industrial potential was destroyed by the earthquake. Due to the risk of an accident, the Armenian NPP was shut down. The economic damage from the disaster exceeded $ 13 billion.