At the end of 1988, at 11:41 on December 7, a huge earthquake shook the Armenian region in southern Russia. Four minutes later, another aftershock with a magnitude of 5.8 occurred. The town of Spitak was completely flattened, and most of the town's 20,000 residents were killed. Earthquakes that cause such severe damage are rare. In Leninakan, Armenia's largest city (now known as Gumri, Armenia's second largest city), 48 kilometers away from the epicenter, 4/5 of the buildings were destroyed; in the nearby Kirovakan city, almost every building All collapsed.
When the earthquake occurred, people were working in offices or workshops, and students were studying in classes. Many of them did not survive. The bodies of more than 50 children were removed from the ruins of a primary school in Leninakan City at one time. Parents in distress were crying and looking for their children. Some people who were still alive were moaning and calling for help in the rubble.
The severe damage caused by the earthquake spread across approximately 10,300 square kilometers of rural areas. The official death toll is 55,000, but other estimates put the death toll closer to 100,000, with 500,000 left homeless. Armenia was unprepared for this disaster, with buildings collapsing like they were made of cardboard and no proper equipment to call for help. Until equipment is shipped from elsewhere, people can only perform rescue work with their bare hands.
80% of the buildings in the city were destroyed, and more than 50 villages were completely destroyed, causing economic losses of 10 billion rubles, exceeding the losses caused by the Chernobyl nuclear power plant accident. The former Soviet Union dispatched 3,752 civil aircraft and 2,426 military aircraft for disaster relief, and rescued 82,000 people. In a short period of time, it received 1.2 billion rubles in disaster relief funds from the country; foreign countries also donated more than 100 million US dollars and dispatched 286 emergency aircraft. Disaster relief supplies and rescue workers. In this catastrophe, as many as 100,000 people are believed to have died; 98% of the bodies were dug out from under the rubble; 19,000 people were injured and disabled, and as many as 1 million people were affected. The survivors of the catastrophe had to huddle outside their ruined homes. There were at least several thousand coffins piled up outside Spitak Stadium. Subsequently, a large-scale rescue operation was launched. The survivors used their bare hands to push away the broken bricks and tiles, hoping to find their missing relatives and friends; the Armenian authorities quickly established a disaster relief committee; the rescue forces set up countless tents to accommodate the victims. Food was also provided, and the medical team provided medical assistance to the victims.