Earthquake Memorial Monument

Earthquake Memorial Monument

Attraction Introduction

Located on Neutral Square in Ashgabat, adjacent to the Neutral Gate and the Presidential Palace. Completed on October 6, 1998. The monument is divided into upper and lower sections. The upper part features a fifteen-meter-long bronze bull, with a cracked sphere—symbolizing the Earth—on its neck, atop which stands a woman holding a child in her arms. The design is inspired by Turkmen legend: they believe the Earth is carried on the back of a giant bull.

The woman and child symbolize eternity and the continuity of humanity. The lower part is the base, inside of which is an earthquake museum that mainly displays photographs depicting Ashgabat before the 1948 earthquake, after the disaster, and in the present day. On the wall at the museum entrance, there is a wall clock with the hands pointing to 1:12—the time the Ashgabat earthquake occurred—to commemorate this tragedy. On the early morning of October 6, 1948, a magnitude 9–10 earthquake struck Ashgabat at 1:12 AM, killing 160,000 people and almost completely destroying the city.

Ashgabat, Turkmenistan