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The forgotten survivors of the Gyumri earthquake

With the highest poverty rates, many of the city’s inhabitants are still struggling to make ends meet.

Inhabitants of the Empty – 29 Years After the Earthquake in Armenia
Syuzanna, aged 9, plays inside old rusty cars in front of the abandoned building where she lives with her family. Ten days ago, Syuzanna's father committed suicide because of debts he was unable to repay. [Yulia Grigoryants/Al Jazeera]
By Yulia Grigoryants
Published On 7 Dec 2017

Gyumri, Armenia – In Gyumri time is measured as “before” and “after” the earthquake. On December 7, 1988, an earthquake measuring a magnitude of 7.0 on the Richter scale struck northern Armenia, killing at least 25,000 people and injuring hundreds of thousands more. A countless number of people were left homeless as high-rise apartment blocks collapsed like dominoes.

Gyumri, Armenia’s second largest city, suffered much of the damage.

Soon after the tragic event, the Soviet Union collapsed and in 1991, Armenia gained its independence, but this transition was full of turmoil. A war with neighbouring Azerbaijan, with consequent energy shortages and an economic blockade, left the landlocked country and its inhabitants in dire conditions.

A quarter of a century later, although the situation has improved for Armenia, the city of Gyumri has the highest poverty rate in the country at about 45 percent. The city has lost nearly half of its population since 1988, due in part to unemployment and emigration of the labour force.

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According to local NGOs, a few thousand families live in makeshift shelters because they cannot afford to buy or rent the newly built apartments that were erected in the city after the earthquake.

During the Soviet era, Gortsaranayin 2A and 2B, twin buildings on the outskirts of Gyumri, accommodated around 120 families. Although they did not collapse in the earthquake, due to significant structural damage, most residents abandoned the buildings. But, four families continue living here among decaying walls and corridors, with no hope for a better life. 

Inhabitants of the Empty – 29 Years After the Earthquake in Armenia
Gortsaranayin 2B, on the outskirts of Gyumri is a pre-earthquake dormitory building that housed families working in a nearby factory. Gyumri was once a prosperous, industrial city with large factories that provided employment for thousands of people in Soviet times. Now the factories are shut down and the city is half-empty. [Yulia Grigoryants/Al Jazeera]
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Inhabitants of the Empty – 29 Years After the Earthquake in Armenia
Levon, aged 7, Syuzanna's brother, enters the Gortsaranayin 2A building carrying groceries. Before the earthquake, this building accommodated 60 families. Today there are just two families living here. [Yulia Grigoryants/Al Jazeera]
Inhabitants of the Empty – 29 Years After the Earthquake in Armenia
Syuzanna's brothers - Suren, aged 5, and Levon, aged 7, greet a visiting relative in their single room apartment, just few days after their father committed suicide. In Armenia, during the first 40-day mourning period, relatives and neighbours visit the family to pay their respects and offer support to the grieving family. [Yulia Grigoryants/Al Jazeera]
Inhabitants of the Empty – 29 Years After the Earthquake in Armenia
Since the apartments are very small, often a single room serves as a bedroom for the whole family. [Yulia Grigoryants/Al Jazeera]
Inhabitants of the Empty – 29 Years After the Earthquake in Armenia
Lusine, Syuzanna's mother is 30 years old. With the suicide of her husband, she is now a single mother of five with little support. [Yulia Grigoryants/Al Jazeera]
Inhabitants of the Empty – 29 Years After the Earthquake in Armenia
Earthquake survivor Karine Hovannisyan, 57, has been living in this building for the last 28 years because she lost her previous home in the tragedy. [Yulia Grigoryants/Al Jazeera]
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Inhabitants of the Empty – 29 Years After the Earthquake in Armenia
Karine's kitchen is very basic. Apartments in these buildings lack elementary sanitation and utilities such as running water, bathrooms and toilets. [Yulia Grigoryants/Al Jazeera]
Inhabitants of the Empty – 29 Years After the Earthquake in Armenia
Knyaz, 38, is of Assyrian origin, one of the ethnic minorities of Armenia. He payed $300 to buy this apartment years ago. After he lost his wife to cancer, he says it was difficult for him to take care of his little daughter alone. [Yulia Grigoryants/Al Jazeera]
Inhabitants of the Empty – 29 Years After the Earthquake in Armenia
Knyaz prepares dinner for his daughter Astghik, aged 10, who has mental disabilities. She attends school, but has problems communicating with other children. [Yulia Grigoryants/Al Jazeera]
Inhabitants of the Empty – 29 Years After the Earthquake in Armenia
Syuzanna takes care of her toddler sister Nareh. Syuzana's mother Lusine cares for her five children and has no job. After school, the girls help her with the housework. [Yulia Grigoryants/Al Jazeera]
Inhabitants of the Empty – 29 Years After the Earthquake in Armenia
Karine lays out her clothes to dry in the sun at the entrance of the abandoned building where she has been living for 28 years. [Yulia Grigoryants/Al Jazeera]