Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan today visited Armenia’s Spitak town, paid tribute to the victims of the devastating 1988 earthquake, and participated in the unveiling of the bust of the late American Armenian benefactor Kirk Kerkorian.

Pashinyan was accompanied by Minister of Education, Science, Sport and Culture Arayik Harutyunyan; Minister of Territorial Administration and Development Suren Papikyan; and some other officials.

An Armenian cross-stone dedicated to the victims of the Japanese earthquake and tsunami is also placed in Spitak.

One of the most brutal tragedies in modern Armenian history took place on December 7, 1988. At 11:41am that day, the northern regions of the then Armenian SSR were shaken by a devastating earthquake, whose was epicenter was Spitak. More than 25,000 people were killed, tens of thousands were injured, and hundreds of thousands were left homeless.