On December 7, 1988 the horrible forces of nature took away the lives of thousands of Armenians as well as the villages and cities that were destroyed. The Northern regions of Armenia in a few seconds were turned into ruins. The 1998 Spitak, Armenia earthquake will never be forgotten for the damages and catastrophe it has caused. It struck at 11:41 A.M. local time when children were at school and most people at work. With most of Armenia covered in high-rise buildings the consequences have been devastating. At least 25,000 people killed, 19,000 injured and 500,000 homeless in the northern Armenia (Gazetov B, Personal Communication, 1989). Direct economic loss was estimated at $14.2 billion, and 40 percent of Armenia's industrial capacity was destroyed, affecting the economic livelihood of hundreds of thousands ...view middle of the document...
fema.gov). Nearly 70% of buildings were destroyed (Abrams, 1989) and a maximum intensity of possible destruction, Mercalli-measured intensity was XI, was observed in the town of Spitak, near the quake epicenter. Power transmission lines were severely damaged and landslides buried railroad tracks in the epicenter area. It measured 6.9 on the Richter scale and affected an area 80 kilometers in diameter. The earthquake lasted forty seconds and was followed four minutes later by a 5.8 magnitude aftershock and swarms of smaller quakes, some as strong as 5.0 (Donald E. Miller, Armenia, 2003).The disaster has led to an extraordinary level of sincerity by the Soviet authorities as they struggle to cope with the devastation. Soviets were supplying medical aid, in particular, blood transfusion equipment and dialysis machines. United States was sending medical aid and dogs capable of detecting survivors. France sent doctors and dogs, and Switzerland sent 37 well-equipped rescue and medical personnel. India has sent clothes and blankets while Britain was transporting excavating equipment. More then five tons of clothes has been collected by Aid Armenia based in Britain (http://news.bbc.co.uk/).The 1988 earthquake in Spitak struck in the wrong place and at the wrong time. At that moment, Armenia was completely unprepared and its population was in its most vulnerable state. The quake caused an extremely stressful situation with mass death and widespread, sudden collapse of community life. The impact on the urban environment was devastating as children suffered more than adults because they were in school at the time of the quake. The quake impact in Armenian children can became a total "psychiatric calamity" (Pynoosetal., 1993) for the whole young generation of an affected nation - from infants to adolescents. The world gave generously to pull people from the rubble, to clear the shattered buildings and to rebuild houses.
