The earthquake that shook our world

Published: Friday December 05, 2008 in Earthquake 20 Years On

A full 20 years have passed since the earthquake that shook the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic on December 7, 1988.

We are living in an era when the children who survived the earthquake are now forming their own families, as their surviving relatives look on with joy and solace. (See story.)

For young men and women who entered college this year, the earthquake is something that happened before they were born, just as the Soviet Union is something they did not experience. But like the Soviet legacy, the legacy of the earthquake is part of their lives in Armenia.

Beyond the sheer scale of human loss - 25,000 dead, 500,000 homeless - one thing that was striking at the time was the shoddy construction of buildings in what was, after all, one of the world's superpowers. In an interview published in the Armenian Reporter, Armenia's deputy prime minister at the time, Vladimir Movsisian, acknowledged that corrupt practices and political failures led to the occupation of buildings that did not meet existing safety standards. (Mr. Movsisian himself lost 57 family members in the earthquake.)

Just as striking was the inability of the Soviet Union to provide adequate emergency response. This inability was as shocking to its people and to the world as the U.S. government's response to Hurricane Katrina in 2005. It left the despairing impression of a powerful state crumbling.

Most striking of all was something now indelibly recorded in the Armenian psyche: the overwhelming humanitarian response to the disaster.

The first - and perhaps least appreciated - response came from the people of Armenia itself. In a moving reminiscence, our correspondent Armen Hakobyan recalls rushing to Leninakan (now Gyumri) on the day of the earthquake along with thousands of others to lift pieces of rubble and save lives.

Assistance came from neighbors, including the Georgian republic, whose leader at the time recalls taking a helicopter to the disaster zone within hours of the earthquake to help out and arrange for additional aid.

The Soviet Union asked for outside assistance, and Armenia was flooded with rescue workers and shipments of necessities from all over the world.

Within hours of the earthquake, on college campuses across the United States, Armenian and non-Armenian students were holding buckets collecting money to send help. Armenian and non-Armenian charitable organizations were responding with immediate help and preparing medium-term programs to continue assistance and aid in rebuilding after the initial rush to save lives. Armenian advocacy groups were quick to rise to the occasion and arrange for more and longer-term assistance.

The breadth of the response, and the establishment of the United Armenian Fund, which brought together (and continues to bring together) the major Armenian charities to airlift aid to Armenia, showed that in a supreme emergency, Armenians can and do work hand-in-hand for the common good. That is something certainly worth remembering today, 20 years later. (See reminiscences by Maria Titizian, Sylvie Tertzakian, Beth Rustigian Broussalian, and Rubina Peroomian, and articles in this week's issue.)

We are thankful to people, organizations, and governments around the world for their help.

As we observe the ritual of marking this somber anniversary, we must acknowledge the immense progress that has been made in Armenia, and particularly in the earthquake zone, in the last two decades. We naturally think also about the families that are still displaced after all these years: considering emigration rates in the 1990s as well as the amount of construction, there is certainly enough vacant housing to accommodate them without enormous outlays.

We cannot avoid thinking also about the possibility that the earth will shake again. Is earthquake-prone Armenia ready to face another natural disaster? Many of the apartment buildings occupied by families and schools attended by children in Armenia were built to the same specifications as the buildings that collapsed in the earthquake. Have they been reinforced? Is new construction up to standard? The answer to both questions is yes and no. Some buildings have been reinforced. Much of the new construction is up to standard. But that's not good enough.

Officials acknowledge that not all new construction complies with building codes. City officials are responsible for ensuring compliance.

Alvara Antonyan, head of Armenia's National Seismic Protection Service, told the Armenian Reporter in an interview this week that if an earthquake as strong as the one that shook northern Armenia 20 years ago were to occur in Yerevan today, 90 percent of all buildings built before 1990 would collapse, and 20 to 30 percent of buildings built after 1990 would collapse, causing perhaps 300,000 deaths.

The stated commitment of the president, the prime minister, and all political leaders in Armenia to fight corruption and enforce the rule of law is welcome not simply as a matter of good governance. If the earthquake teaches us anything, it's that these commitments are a matter of life or large-scale death.

On this anniversary, as we remember the victims and as we celebrate our broad and united response, let us recommit ourselves to working together for the sort of good governance and accountability that will allow us to look to the future with greater confidence.