Wrecked and collapsed buildings in the earthquake zone of northern Armenia
A statue of Mother Armenia is framed by tram poles lining a major route into Gyumri, now reduced to a dirt track
A man and woman make their way across in an earthquake-flattened area of Gyumri – then called Leninakan
Hospital workers walk past wrecked buildings in the Armenian earthquake zone
Men wearing facemasks carry an empty coffin in Gyumri
A woman holds a photograph of a young child as he stands with other relatives as, five months after the earthquake, mass graves are exhumed to allow proper burials.- A man hugs a photograph of his children who were victims of the earthquake
A couple outside their makeshift home after being displaced by the earthquake
A man drinks tea as he sits with his wife outside their temporary home
People keep vigil at the gravesides of loved-ones lost to the earthquake- A woman sits at a graveside where temporary memorial markers are yet to be replaced by gravestones
A woman and child in the village of Nalband, at the epicentre of the earthquake
A young child cries in the arms of a woman seated beneath a statue, almost all that remained of the village of Nalband after the earthquake- Discarded timber is harvested for firewood in the earthquake-hit city of Gyumri
- A boy uses a basin to gather timber from a roadside in Gyumri
Young survivors of the Armenian earthquake recover in a Yerevan hospital
A lesson in a tent school in Gyumri- Children sweep dust and debris outside their tent school in Gyumri
Children outside their tent school on the central reservation of a tree-lined boulevard in Gyumri
A man sells flowers in the centre of Gyumri against a backdrop of devastation.
Children look out from the doorway of a home in Gyumri
Women pick their way across dirt and rubble in downtown Gyumri, November 1989- A driver heads down a street covered in mud and debris in Gyumri, Armenia, a year after the earthquake
- A boy walks in a Gyumri street covered in mud and debris.
A woman walks past the destroyed former post office as snow blankets Spitak, Armenia, in November 1989- A boy carries a loaf of bread outside a bakery in Gyumri
A man drinks from a water fountain in Gyumri
A woman visits neighbours at a temporary home in Gyumri
Rebuilding work in Gyumri, Armenia in in November 1989, a year after the earthquake- Men work to rebuild an apartment in Gyumri
- People wait for a bus at a muddy roadside in Gyumri
- A new housing development emerges outside Gyumri. The city is 6,000 feet above sea level
- Reconstruction work in Gyumri
- A welder’s torch lights up the evening gloom at a building site in Gyumri
A young child, protected from the winter chill by an outsize fur coat, is wheeled along a street in Gyumri
Teenagers in Spitak, Armenia, in November 1989, a year after the earthquake
Residents outside their temporary homes in Gyumri, Armenia- Children throw snowballs in Gyumri, Armenia, one year after the earthquake
Children enjoy the snow in an Armenian village affected by the earthquake
Children outside their school in the Armenian earthquake zone
Aftermath: The Armenian Earthquake of 1988
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On December 7, 1988, at 11:41 a.m., the first of two powerful earthquakes measuring a magnitude of 6.8 hit three miles from Spitak, Armenia, a city of about 30,000 residents. Four minutes later, a second tremor measuring a magnitude of 5.8 struck nearby. These two tremors caused near total destruction to Spitak. In neighboring Gyumri, the second largest city in Armenia with a population of 300,000, about 80 percent of its buildings collapsed. This devastating event killed approximately 25,000 people. About140,000 Armenians were injured, 514,000 were left homeless, and nearly half a million buildings were destroyed.
Jeff Coyler, a medical responder during the earthquake and later governor of Kansas, noted at the 30th anniversary of the earthquake in 2018, that when he and his colleagues initially arrived in Armenia they faced a scene that was difficult to imagine.
“It is a scene that I cannot describe but we saw something special: we met the most fantastic spirit in Armenia, the spirit of love, kindness, and heroism. We met Armenians who were longing to overcome the tremendous disaster that came their way. Today, when I meet Armenians around the world, I meet them as very special people with culture, science, business, and dignity. And here is the great lesson of 1988. When we arrived in Armenia, many of us thought that the best days were behind, and today we know that Armenia’s best days are ahead of us, and here is why. Memory may be fading from many people but Armenians remember, that is why they are special.”
As international aid and relief began to flow into Armenia, the world observed a nation that would endure and survive this devastating tragedy. This historic event set in motion closer ties between Armenians in the diaspora and the homeland.
Asadour Guzelian, a young photographer who was three years into building his photographic practice supplying news and feature photography to the UK national newspapers, traveled to Armenia to capture this event impacting his fellow Armenians in the homeland. As Guzelian noted:
“I went to Armenia to cover the aftermath of the earthquake on two occasions. The first trip was in April 1989, five months after; and then November 1989, for the one year anniversary. Most of my work was in the north of England, but my Armenian heritage prompted me to offer the idea of traveling there to my media clients. I secured guarantees from The Times, Sunday Times, Guardian, Telegraph, and Independent for use of the images. The idea was to document the situation some months on and after the international news media had left. I was keen to do something to promote the country through my images.
In the face of this extraordinary human tragedy, Asadour Guzelian captured images of collapsed structures, rescue operations, cleanup and reconstruction, as well as images of the victims displaying emotional expressions of loss and survival. Guzelian’s captivating and evocative photographs taken in April and November, 1989 highlight the Armenian spirit of perseverance and resilience.
Asadour Guzelian
Guzelian was born in London and founded what became the Guzelian agency in1986, after cutting his teeth for eight years with Barry Wilkinson in Bradford. He has supplied news and feature photographs to Britain’s national newspapers. His exhibitions include one-man shows at the National Museum of Photography and the Cornerhouse, Manchester. He was twice won the prestigious Yorkshire TV Photographer of the Year.
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