Saturday, February 13, 2010

Armenian Earthquake after two decades

I shot the aftermath of Armenian earthquakes, which happened in Feb. 1988, when I was in Armenia in December. Even two decades later, the earthquake still affects people in the Northern Armenia. Vanadzor, one of the cities hit hard by the earthquake, still has housing shortage problems, and a number of people live in small houses domiks, which were built after the earthquake to shelter people with low income. The mix of the Soviet collapse, Karabakh war and subsequent economic turndown prevented the city from recovering. As a result, hundreds of people still live in those domiks.
It seems that the city is a sad example how natural disasters could cause damages to people and local economy in the long term...