17 years have passed since the disastrous Spitak earthquake. December 7, 1988 at 11.41 a.m. several towns and over 300 villages were destroyed by the severe earthquake, which killed about 25 thousand people and disabled 140 thousand. Over million of people remained homeless. During some 30 seconds the tremors ruined Spitak, Leninakan (Gyumri), Stepanavan and Kirovakan (Vanadzor). The earthquake struck the territory of about 30 thousand square kilometers; the tremors were felt in Yerevan and Tbilisi. Builders from the whole world helped to reconstruct the ruined towns.