Copyright Information: All images are in the public domain and available for free. If you use this image, credit NOAA/NGDC, C.J. Langer, U.S. Geological Survey. |
Collapse of diaphragms (floors) leaving walls standing in building in Leninakan. Note planks hanging from ties to adjoining planks. This three-story building is one of the older buildings. Most of the newer one- and two-story dwellings and two- and three-story commercial buildings in Leninakan received little damage. The debris of a nine-story building is to the right. 132 nine-story pre-cast, concrete-frame buildings collapsed or were heavily damaged in this city. Such collapses left no spaces for occupant survival. Image Credit: C.J. Langer. U.S. Geological Survey December 7, 1988 Leninakan-Spitak-Kirovakan Armenia earthquake The magnitude 6.9 earthquake shook northwestern Armenia, and was followed four minutes later by a magnitude 5.8 aftershock. The earthquakes affected an area 80 kilometers in diameter. This set includes damage photographs taken in and around the devastated cities of Spitak and Leninakan, where 25,000 deaths occurred. Location: Northwestern Armenian SSR, 18 kilometers north northwest of Spitak. Damage: $14.2 billion. Fifteen thousand were injured and 517,000 lost their homes. The death toll (25,000) could have been much worse had it not been for the heroic rescue of 15,000 who were pulled from the rubble. Event Data:
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