December 7 marks the 25th anniversary of the Spitak earthquake in Armenia where some 24,000 people died. A quarter of a century later, some 4,500 families are still living in makeshift shelters, waiting for help.
It all happened on a Wednesday. At 11:41 on the morning of December 7, 1988, a 6.8 magnitude earthquake struck the northern part of the then Soviet Republic of Armenia. The effects were devastating.
“It was the most horrible thing I have ever seen in my life,” says eyewitness Mania Grigoryan, who still lives in the area today. “There was a river of blood in the street. I remember how they put the bodies of the children in the streets. I cried so much. It’s been 25 years but I remember it like it was yesterday.”
Grigoryan is used to hardship. At 93 she’s survived World War Two, conflict against Azerbaijan in the 1990s and several earthquakes. Ever since the 1988 Spitak quake she’s been forced to live in a tin container that barely resembles a house.
“My life is hard,” she says. “You can’t really call it life. There is no shower here, the toilet is out of order, there is no heat. How is it possible to live here?”
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