On December 19th the Embassy of Armenia to the United States hosted an event to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the 1988 earthquake in Armenia. Armenian Ambassador to the United States Varuzhan Nersesyan and the embassy staff laid a wreath at the “Motherland” Armenian earthquake memorial (architect Frederic Sogoyan) on the lawn outside the American Red Cross headquarters, inaugurated in 1991 as a gift to the American people for their support to Armenia in the aftermath of the quake.

Following the commemoration ceremony, the Embassy hosted a reception to mark the 30th anniversary of the devastating earthquake, attended by the members of the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department and Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Department, who were deployed in Armenia in the aftermath of the earthquake, Director of the Office of Caucasus Affairs and Regional Conflicts at the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs Ms. Alicia P. Allison and Armenia desk officer Ms. Marina Grayson (Department of State), high-ranking officials from the US Department of Defense, representatives from the Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance (USAID), former US Ambassadors to Armenia Michael Lemmon and John Evans, as well as members of the Armenian-American community.

Ambassador Nersesyan acknowledged the efforts of the United States government and members of the Armenian-American community for their invaluable support to Armenia. The event featured a short film about the assistance rendered to Armenia by various US institutions and Armenian-American organizations.

Ambassador Nersesyan also presented certificates of appreciation from the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Armenia to rescuers and firefighters, deployed in the disaster zone in 1988.