RA President laid wreath to 1988 earthquake memorial

PanARMENIAN.Net - Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan who arrived Monday morning in Gyumri laid a wreath to the 1988 earthquake memorial. Later, a service for the dead was held in Amenaprkich Church, a PanARMENIAN.Net correspondent reported from Gyumri.



RA Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan, Territorial Administration Minister Armen Gevorgyan, Shirak region governor Lida Nanyan, Gyumri Mayor Vardan Ghukasyan and Russia's Ambassador to RA Vyacheslav Kovalenko also attended the mourning ceremony.



On December 7, 1988, at 11:41 a.m. local time a magnitude 6.9 earthquake shook northwestern Armenia and was followed four minutes later by a magnitude 5.8 aftershock.



The earthquake leveled the cities of Spitak and Gyumri and left 25 000 people dead, 100 000 wounded and 500 000 homeless.