The earthquake was one of the most devastating events to have occurred in Colombia in recent history, with an estimated 1900 casualties. The Biggest Earthquakes in Armenia - Page 5. In recent years, Kurkjian authored the non-fiction book MASTER THIEVES, which is regarded as the most authoritative account of the historic and still-unsolved theft of masterpieces from Boston’s Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. The president had to send in troops to restore order. (Reporters Anahit Harutyunyan and Ani Hovhannissyan contributed from Armenia.). 1999 earthquake. Johnson’s cable also listed Norman Stein as a person to contact in case the group ran into any problems while in the Soviet Union. MASAKATSU MIYAJIMA Kanazawa University 2-40-20, Kodatsuno, Kanazawa, Ishikawa 920-8867, Japan An earthquake of magnitude 6.2 (Mb) occurred in west-central part of Colombia on January 25, 1999. However, Kennedy spoke of his commitment to the relief effort a few weeks later when the Soviet Union placed a sudden halt on all relief shipments to Yerevan. In the early morning hours of December 18, 1988, a little more than 10 days after the earthquake had struck Armenia, the Russian Aeroflot plane landed at Andrews Air Force Base, was quickly loaded with the 80,000 pounds of dialysis equipment and took off. A life-saving mission between two world powers would result from that phone call and remarkably enough it was the product of the respect and trust that two men gained playing football against each other more than 30 years before. Two earthquakes hit Armenia on December 7, 1988, killing 60,000 people and destroying nearly half a million buildings. Loading the Baxter equipment at Andrews Air Force Base, “The only way to save those rescued from collapsed buildings was to get them on dialysis but our equipment was outdated and totally unable to meet the overwhelming demand,” said Avagyan, who is now Executive Director of the Armenian Bone Marrow Donor Registry in Yerevan. 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Because of the antiquated medical equipment, neither of the two hospitals designated to treat the earthquake victims were able to provide the needed care, and hundreds were dying every day or being sent to Moscow. “Everyone was watching the chandelier, not with the expectation of light but to see if it moved,” she wrote in an article published in Mediamax.am in Armenia last year. The horrific impact of the earthquake was being broadcast every day by CNN and the major television networks and it gave rise to countless frantic conversations in numerous homes of Armenians across America and elsewhere. For Armenia, a country of about 3 million people, the casualty level made the earthquake one of the most devastating national disasters in modern times. Coordinates. The earthquake struck at nineteen minutes past one o'clock on January 25, lasted seconds, and left behind utter devastation. USAID; Posted 26 Feb 1999 Originally published 26 Feb 1999. [2] On 25 January 1999 a M w = 6.2 earthquake struck the coffee‐growing region of western Colombia. By the end of December, the Baxter dialysis machines had been joined by other pieces arriving from West Germany and England and together they were able to meet the critical demand that the earthquake had brought — the doctors were able to provide life-saving kidney dialysis treatment to 400 patients. Tuesday 26 th January 1999. While basic emergency supplies such as food, clothes, blankets and children’s goods were foremost on the minds of countless people, a fundraising campaign was outlined among those who met at the Najarians’ home. Having seen television images of the devastation, Vernon R. Loucks, Jr., chairman of Baxter International and former end for Yale’s varsity football team, was only too willing to help with a massive relief effort. On arrival in Yerevan on December 20, the dialysis machines were immediately placed into the two Yerevan hospitals designated to treat those suffering from kidney damage. This earthquake has caused more damage than any other seismic event in Colombia this century. Most of the events used occurred in the region on the occasion of the Armenia 25 January 1999 earthquake. 1988 December - Earthquake in northern Armenia kills 25,000 and leaves hundreds of thousands homeless. Show More . “I knew we had done something that none of us would ever forget,” Loucks said, “and I wanted to thank John and Michele as representatives of the Armenian people for letting us serve them.”. Oct. 2, 2020. The creaking of the cement stairs, the party leaders’ pictures and the sound of the shattering glass, the screams of the students and teachers, all mixed together, creating a truly hellish reality. He wasn’t the biggest guy on their team, but he was the most versatile,” Loucks recalled. 1999: Colombia quake leaves hundreds dead, 1999: Olympic officials face bribery charges, 1981: Dissident Labour MPs plan new party, 1990: Children killed in devastating storm. Colombia. In all, more than 100 countries would respond. An earthquake that struck Izmir in 1999 killed about 17,000 people. Loucks had risen in the ranks of Baxter Healthcare and taken over as its CEO as well as its Board Chairman the year before, and Michele suggested John call him. Other major earthquakes were the 1875 Cúcuta earthquake with around 10,000 deaths and the 1999 Armenia earthquake with an intensity of X. Simourian — and Loucks — kept that pledge for three decades even though the doors that he helped open for them were monumental and their impact both life-saving and long-lasting for Armenia. Apparently through Kennedy’s intercession, the Pentagon cleared a Soviet military transport plane to land at Andrews Air Force Base in suburban Maryland, the same airfield used by the President’s Air Force One, and take off from there to Yerevan. On 7 December 1988 an earthquake in northern Armenia killed 25,000 and left hundreds of thousands homeless. Earthquake in Armenia, Colombia, January 25, 1999. Two earthquakes hit Armenia on December 7, 1988, killing 60,000 people and destroying nearly half a million buildings. Even though a Russian military base was located there, it lacked the heavy equipment and cranes needed to move the rubble to search for possible survivors. Colombia - Earthquake Fact Sheet #6, Fiscal Year 1999 Format Situation Report Source. Anahit Harutyunyan was only 5, living with her parents and sister. Stein, who had raised money for the anti-nuke organization and traveled to Russia on several previous occasions, recalls advising the Baxter group: “Whatever you do, never leave the medical equipment out of your sight, or it will disappear, and you’ll never see it again.”. There were 200,000 people left homeless. At the same time, again apparently through Kennedy’s influence, the US State Department and the Soviet embassy in Washington gave immediate approval to allow Dr. Allan Collins, a Minnesota kidney specialist, and three Baxter engineers and technicians to fly aboard the military transport plane — squeezed in with the 80,000 pounds of dialysis equipment — from Andrews Air Force Base to Yerevan. He shared in three Pulitzer Prizes as a member and editor of the Spotlight Team. Areas to the southwest of Armenia, such as the northeastern Mediterranean coast, Turkey and Iran, are quite seismically active: More than four quakes with magnitudes greater than six have struck Turkey in the 20th century alone. More than 15,000 of its residents were killed and 75 percent of the city said to be destroyed. UNHCR Global Appeal 1999 - Armenia. The earthquake was one of the most devastating events to have occurred in Colombia in recent history, with an estimated 1900 casualties. Armenia is a small country about the size of Maryland that borders Turkey to the west, Iran to the south, Azerbaijan to the east and Georgia to the north. The epicenter was approximately 16km south of Armenia. “I still can’t believe it happened — loading modern, American healthcare equipment onto a Russian plane on what has to be one of the most secure American military bases there is.”. Hayk Demoyan. 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