Armenia marks the 24th anniversary of the Spitak earthquake on December 7.

24 years ago today, at 11:41 am local time a magnitude 6.9 earthquake shook northwestern Armenia to be followed by a magnitude 5.8 aftershock four minutes later. In the epicenter, the village of Nalband, the tremors were reported to measure 10 on the Richter scale.

The earthquake leveled the cities of Spitak and Gyumri, leaving about 25000 people dead, 100000 wounded and 500000 homeless.