February 23 — the dome of the Basmanny Market collapsed. The total collapse area was about three square kilometers. The market operated 24/7, and nearly 100 people were inside the building. The Basmanny Market was built in 1975. At that time, unsupported structural designs were quite popular among architects, and the market’s dome was made in a similar way to the “Transvaal Park,” which collapsed in 2004. According to the Ministry of Emergency Situations, the nature of the debris was very complex—the reinforced-concrete dome structures folded like a layer cake. People who remained alive under the rubble were kept warm using heat guns. Rescuers, taking turns, worked around the clock for two days. Thanks to their efforts, 33 lives were saved. Sixty-six people who were at the market at the moment the dome collapsed died.
Members of the Moscow government commission that investigated the collapse concluded that the building’s original design had been improperly operated for 30 years. During all that time, snow accumulated on the roof and no one cleared it, and meltwater and rainwater also collected there. It could not drain through the clogged drains, so it flowed through breaches in the waterproofing into the interior, onto the load-bearing metal structures, which were gradually eaten away by rust—and as a result, they failed.
October 10 — the social network “VKontakte” launched.
March 26 — the social network “Odnoklassniki” launched.