1988 Armenian earthquake
Seismologists thoroughly studied the effects of the Spitak event, including the mainshock and aftershock fault rupture mechanisms, and were on site setting up temporary seismometers before the end of 1988.The cities of Spitak, Leninakan (Gyumri) and Kirovakan (Vanadzor) were greatly affected with large losses of life and devastating effects to buildings and other structures.Despite the tensions of the Cold War, Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev formally asked the United States for humanitarian help within a few days of the earthquake, the first such request since the late 1940s.One hundred and thirteen countries sent substantial amounts of humanitarian aid to the Soviet Union in the form of rescue equipment, search teams and medical supplies.The Metsamor Nuclear Power Plant, around 75 km (47 mi) from the epicenter, experienced only minor shaking and no damage occurred there, but was eventually closed for a period of six years due to vulnerability concerns.[15] It was reopened in 1995 in order to relieve Armenia of a major energy blockade imposed by Azerbaijan due to the First Nagorno-Karabakh War, amid criticism of lack of training, political instability in the Caucasus region, and accusations that the plant was of inadequate design.[19] The Soviet news media and government officials soon began to discuss the apparent substandard construction styles that had caused so many of Armenia's buildings to collapse.The group, including a structural engineer who specialized in seismic-resistant designs, agreed that building inadequacies were the primary reason why the strong (but not huge) earthquake was so damaging, although the freezing temperatures also played a role in the unusually high death toll.The Soviets had modified their construction style to accommodate the known seismic risk in the area, but they acknowledged to the team that many of the buildings were not built to withstand an earthquake of that magnitude.While on-site during aftershock monitoring, the US research team verified the presence of soil amplification effects when pronounced differences in readings were observed when compared with nearby rock sites.Twelve days after the mainshock a French-Soviet team installed a temporary seismic network in the epicentral area to record aftershock activity (a separate expedition from the United States also visited the site).[26] The instrumentation included ten smoked paper analog seismometers that were configured to allow for 48 hours of continuous single-component data recording.The soviet geophysicists detonated 100 kilograms of TNT in a hole drilled near the mainshock epicenter and the resulting shock waves were detected and used to help pinpoint a more accurate crustal velocity value of 5.3 to 5.4 km/s.A second site that was close to the fault, also near the Pambak river and with similar soil deposits, did not experience liquefaction, though it would have experienced the same high peak ground accelerations as the failed highway embankment.[29] Avant-garde musician Pierre Schaeffer led a 498-member French rescue team to look for survivors in Leninakan, and worked there until all foreign personnel were asked to leave after the plan to bulldoze what was left of the ruins was formulated.Those who were killed on the plane were planning to join an estimated 20,000 soldiers and 85,000 civil defense workers in rescue efforts by searching for survivors, supplying food and water, and setting up sanitation facilities in the region.[34] A second air transport incident occurred the following day at Yerevan (capital of the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic) when an Antonov An-12 from Yugoslavia crashed, killing all seven crew on board.[37] The world responded rapidly to the disaster in Leninakan and Spitak, with much of Europe sending cargo aircraft loaded with medical supplies, rescue equipment, and trained personnel to assist in the recovery, and even more reinforcement coming in from Latin America and the Far East.Mikhail Gorbachev was in New York on his first day of visits with Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush at the time of the earthquake, and once the scale of the disaster was realized, a quick departure was made back to Armenia, with the Kremlin formally asking for American help.[39] Japan sent a monetary gift of $9 million while Italy had plans to build a prefabricated village for the victims, and West Germany offered to send more than a dozen heavy cranes.Chrysler chairman Lee Iacocca arranged for a fund drive, and in Chicago (one of five major Armenian population centers in the US) the community raised $800,000 and donated 9,000 kilograms (20,000 lb) of supplies.Baxter International, an American health care company with headquarters in Deerfield, Illinois, designed and built a flying medical lab set up with 20 dialysis machines to be used with victims suffering from crush syndrome (trauma associated with building collapses), but were unable to get started for four days until the visas were available.
Armenian SSRShirakamutLori ProvinceThrustSoviet UnionArmenianromanizedsurface-wave magnitudeArmeniatectonic plate boundaryEarthquake engineeringEra of StagnationLeonid BrezhnevSpitakGyumriVanadzorCold WarMikhail Gorbachevnon-governmental organizationsYugoslaviaCharles AznavourRock Aid ArmeniaHistory of ArmeniaKarabakh movementFirst Nagorno-Karabakh WarCaucasusYerevanKarabakh CommitteeNagorno-KarabakhKarabakhSumgait PogromAlpide beltShakeMapUnited States Geological Surveystrong ground motionCaucasus MountainsconvergenceArabianEurasianHimalayasAegean Seacrustalthrust faultingvolcanicMount AraratstrikingBruce BoltUniversity of California, BerkeleyLesser CaucasusMount Aragatssurface rupturestrike-sliplocal magnitudeEarthquake-resistant structuresLeninakanMetsamor Nuclear Power Plantmajor energy blockade imposed by Azerbaijanskeletal componentsseismic wavesnews mediaconstructionNew York CityconcretePravdaseismic riskMedvedev–Sponheuer–Karnik scaleseismic scalesedimentary layerEarthquake Engineering Research Instituteseismic energySeismic sourcecontinental collisionseismometersmagnetic tapeP waveS wavegeophysicistshypocentersanticlineSoil mechanicsSlope stability analysisliquefaction1983 Borah Peak earthquakepore water pressuresstandard penetration testNalbandwater tableembankmentsand boilspeak ground accelerationsHoly Saviour's ChurchAvant-gardePierre SchaefferNikolai RyzhkovChairmanCouncil of MinistersNational Hero of ArmeniaIlyushin Il-76crashed on approachair traffic controlflight controllersseparationArmenian Soviet Socialist RepublicAntonov An-12Pour toi ArménieGeorges GarvarentzArmenian EarthquakeWashington, D.C.Fund for Armenian Reliefrublesnuclear and radiation accidentSoviet Union–United States relationsPerestroikaAzerbaijancargo aircraftRonald ReaganGeorge H. W. BushKremlinWashingtonsearch and rescuedetection dogsWest GermanyLockheed C-141 StarlifterChryslerLee IacoccaArmand Hammer