The earthquake measured 6.9 on the Richter scale

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Up to 45,000 people have died and a further 500,000 are homeless after the devastating earthquake which ripped through Armenia, official figures revealed today.

Rescue work is currently still concentrating on finding any survivors, but hope is waning in Armenia which borders Turkey and Azerbaijan.

The Soviet Union declared today a national day of mourning as the death toll rose and President Gorbachev toured the cities devastated by the earthquake.

It measured 6.9 on the Richter scale and affected an area 80 kilometres in diameter.

Spitak, a town of 25,000 inhabitants, has been completely destroyed and cannot be rebuilt - a new city will have to be built over the wreckage.

The city of Leninakan, with 290,000 inhabitants, and the towns of Stepanavan and Kirovakan in the northern area of Armenia, were also hit by the earthquake.

It struck three days ago at 1141 local time when children were at school and most people at work.

With most of Armenia covered in high-rise buildings the consequences have been devastating.

The scale of the destruction has brought criticism the infrastructure was substandard, prompting Soviet authorities to pledge Spitak will be rebuilt with blocks no more than five storeys high.

The disaster has led to anunprecedentedlevel of openness by the Soviet authorities as they struggle to cope with the disaster.

The Soviet Union has made an appeal for medical aid requesting in particular blood transfusion equipment and dialysis machines.

America is sending medical aid and sniffer dogs capable of detecting survivors.

Dogs sent by France alerted aid workers to 60 people buried alive under the rubble yesterday.

India has sent clothes and blankets while Britain is transporting excavating equipment

Five tonnes of clothes have already been collected by Aid Armenia based in Britain.   

The mysterious epidemic has claimed 75 lives in the US so far

The unknown condition, which consists of two separate diseases - a form of pneumonia and skin cancer, has been found in 180 patients in 15 states since last July.

It has claimed around 75 lives so far in the US and up to 92% of the victims are homosexual men.

One death has been reported from the virus in London.

Although doctors have identified what appears to be a new disease, they have yet to devise a cure.

The epidemic is being investigated by the Centre for Disease Control in Atlanta.

The specialist unit has already discovered the causes of two other diseases, the toxic shock syndrome and legionnaires' disease.

Dr James Curran, who is investigating the condition, said: "It is a very serious problem and it does not seem to be on the wane."

Three studies in the New England Journal of Medicine show that the immune systems of victims are severely weakened, leaving them vulnerable to serious infections from germs which most people normally shrug off.

Homosexuals, who have developed either of the two conditions, have shown a low resistance to standard tests on their immune system.

Four victims also had rare skin ulcers normally caused by the herpes simplex virus.

Researchers claim that their findings are "part of a nationwide epidemic of immunodeficiency among male homosexuals."

Doctors are unsure of the cause of the epidemic which is carried in semen and other body secretions.

A study at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) suggests that homosexuals may be repeatedly infected with the virus.

One case also involved an intravenous drug user which implies that the disease could be spread by sharing needles.

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