Sunday, December 7, 2008.  Twenty years ago today, a major earthquake struck the city of Spitak, in what was then Soviet Armenia.  At least 25,000 people were killed in this disaster.  I look at why so many people were killed in this earthquake, and my thoughts about the prospect of being in a natural disaster myself.

People from nations all over the world stepped in to help rebuild after the Spitak earthquake.  The picture here is a statue that the people of Armenia gave to the United States as a token of gratitude.  It stands near the Red Cross Building in Washington D.C.