Shoddy Construction Cited in Armenia Quake Deaths

A Soviet Politburo commission blamed most of the 25,000 deaths in Armenia’s earthquake last December on shoddy construction and turned its findings over to prosecutors to file criminal charges, the official Tass news agency reported Saturday.

“The catastrophic consequences of the earthquake in Armenia are explained above all by the low quality of the building and assembly work, by the inadmissible violation of design norms and the strength of underground tremors,” Tass said.

“There would have been no such huge number of human casualties if the established standards and regulations at all stages of construction, from design to assembly, were observed,” the report added.

The report ended an investigation that began immediately after the Dec. 7 earthquake, which was measured at a magnitude of 6.9 and destroyed Leninakan, Spitak, Kirovakan and other cities of northern Armenia. The Politburo commission was headed by Premier Nikolai I. Ryzhkov.

The commission turned its findings and materials over to the Procurator General’s office “to file criminal charges and bring those responsible to account,” Tass said.

Many of the structures that collapsed in the earthquake were newly constructed high-rise apartment buildings, which are common throughout the Soviet Union. They collapsed in heaps of rubble, trapping their inhabitants. About 500,000 people were left homeless in the quake.

Many older buildings with fewer stories remained standing.

The Soviet Union is faced with an acute housing shortage and has turned to construction of identical prefabricated blocks throughout the country.

Ryzhkov traveled to Armenia immediately after the earthquake. As early as mid-December, he said that poor housing construction was a likely cause of the high number of deaths. The commission report confirmed that suspicion.

Tass gave no indication how widespread the criminal investigation would be, nor how many people would be prosecuted.

Officials have said it will cost billions of dollars to rebuild the Armenian cities, but they have pledged to do it within two years and under strict standards designed to prevent a repeat of the disaster.

The commission reported that $400 million work of construction work was done in the quake area through April.

But it also reported complacency and lack of coordination in supply and construction.