1988 Armenian earthquake

Uncommon card · No. 195794

An earthquake occurred in northern Armenia (then Armenian SSR, as part of the Soviet Union) on 7 December, 1988, at 11:41 local time with a surface-wave magnitude of 6.8 and a maximum MSK intensity of X (Devastating). The region is vulnerable to large and destructive earthquakes and is part of a larger active seismic belt that stretches from the Alps to the Himalayas. Activity in the area is associated with tectonic plate boundary interaction and the source of the event was slip on a thrust fault just to the north of Spitak. The complex incident ruptured multiple faults, with a strike-slip event occurring shortly after the initiation of the mainshock. Between 25,000 and 50,000 people were killed and up to 130,000 were injured. 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. Earthquake engineering experts scrutinized building construction...

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