Earthquake Memorial Monument

　　    Situated on Neutral Square in Ashgabat city, adjacent to the Neutrality Arch and the Presidential Palace. It was completed on October 6, 1998. The monument consists of two sections. The upper part features a fifteen-meter-long bronze bull, with a cracked globe—symbolizing the Earth—on its neck, and on the fractured crust stands a woman holding a child in her arms. The design is inspired by a Turkic legend: they believe the Earth is carried on the back of a giant bull.

　　    The woman and child symbolize eternity and the continuation of humanity. The lower part is the base, which houses an earthquake museum inside. It mainly displays photos depicting Ashgabat before the 1948 earthquake, after the disaster, and in its current state. On the wall at the museum entrance, there is a wall clock with the hands pointing to 1:12 — the time when the Ashgabat earthquake struck. This commemorates the tragic event — on October 6, 1948, at 1:12 a.m., Ashgabat was hit by an earthquake measuring 9–10 on the Richter scale, which killed 160,000 people and almost completely destroyed the entire city.

　　 Ashgabat, Turkmenistan