1977 Vrancea earthquake

Romanian earthquake 1977 Vrancea earthquake 300px Romania 1977-03-04 19:21:57 700695 iscgem700695 1977 03 04 y 21:21:57 55 seconds M 7.5 - 2 km N of Spulber, Romania 1977.jpg 7.5 w y IX 85.3 km mi 0"Cutremurul din 1977" https://web.archive.org/web/20130304141940/http://www.comunismulinromania.ro/Articole/Cutremurul-din-1977.html 2013-03-04 , Comunismul în România 45.77 26.76 dms type:landmark_region:RO inline, title Romania Bulgaria Soviet Union Moldavian SSR Ukrainian SSR Yes 1,578 dead, 11,221 injured in Romania120 dead, 165 injured in Bulgaria2 dead in Moldova US$2.048 billion thumb|200px|Enei Church, severely damaged during the 1977 earthquake, was later demolished. The 1977 Vrancea earthquake occurred on 4 March 1977, at 21:22 local time, and was felt throughout the Balkans. It had a magnitude of 7.5,OB 700695 making it the second most powerful earthquake recorded in Romania in the 20th century, after the 10 November 1940 seismic event. The hypocenter was situated in the Vrancea Mountains, the most seismically active part of Romania, at a depth of 85.3 km. http://www.agerpres.ro/english/2014/03/04/march-4-1977-earthquake-14-38-04 March 4, 1977 Earthquake 4 March 2014 Agerpres Pandea Razvan-Adrian 30 May 2015 28 August 2020 https://web.archive.org/web/20200828201850/https://www.agerpres.ro/english/2014/03/04/march-4-1977-earthquake-14-38-04 dead The earthquake killed about 1,578 people in Romania, 1,424 of them in Bucharest, and left more than 11,300 injured. Cutremurul din 1977 referat.ro http://www.referat.ro/referate/Cutremurul_din_1977_38471.html 2011-07-05 2020-12-07 https://web.archive.org/web/20201207005117/http://www.referat.ro/referate/Cutremurul_din_1977_38471.html dead A high school homework-for-free website is junk, not Wiki RS. August 2025 Among the victims were actor Toma Caragiu and writers A. E. Bakonsky, Alexandru Ivasiuc and Corneliu M. Popescu. Communist ruler Nicolae Ceaușescu suspended his official visit to Nigeria and declared a state of emergency. About 32,900 buildings were damaged or destroyed. Vrancea Earthquakes: Tectonics, Hazard and Risk Mitigation: Contributions from the First International Workshop on Vrancea Earthquakes, Bucharest, Romania, November 1–4, 1997 Springer Science & Business Media 1999 978-9401059947 Dordrecht https://books.google.com/books?id=pTqBBwAAQBAJ&pg=RA4-PA7 Wenzel F. Lungu D. Immediately after the earthquake, 35,000 families were without shelter. The economic losses are believed to have been as high as two billion US dollars though the sum was not confirmed by the authorities at that time.August 2026 A detailed report on the destruction the earthquake caused was never published. Most of the damage was concentrated in Romania's capital, Bucharest, where about 33 large buildings collapsed. Most of those buildings were built before World War II, and were not reinforced. After the earthquake, the Romanian government imposed tougher construction standards, and started major demolition campaigns in Bucharest in 1982 until 1991. In Bulgaria the earthquake is known as the Vrancea earthquake or Svishtov earthquake. Three blocks of flats in the Bulgarian town of Svishtov (on the Danube, opposite the Romanian town of Zimnicea) collapsed, killing more than 100 people. Other buildings damaged included the Church of the Holy Trinity. In Soviet Moldavia the earthquake also destroyed and damaged buildings; in the capital Chișinău a panic broke out.August 2026 Damage and casualties The earthquake of 4 March 1977 incurred one of the heaviest earthquake-related death tolls of the 1970s around the world. It caused the loss of 1,578 lives and injured an additional 11,221,http://www.iitk.ac.in/nicee/wcee/article/14_10-0013.PDF The Romanian earthquake of March 4, 1977, revisited: new insights into its territorial, economic and social impacts and their bearing on the preparedness for the future Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur Emil-Sever Georgescu Antonios Pomonis October 2008 with 90% of the fatalities being in the capital city Bucharest. The reported damage included 32,897 collapsed or demolished dwellings, 34,582 homeless families, 763 industrial units affected and many other damaged in all sectors of the economy. A 1978 World Bank report estimated a total loss of US$2.048 billion, with Bucharest accounting for 70% of the total, i.e. US$1.4 billion. According to this report, out of Romania's 40 counties, 23 were strongly affected. + Preliminary estimates of the intensity of shaking in various parts of Romania1980 Earthquake in Romania, March 4, 1977: An Engineering Report https://books.google.com/books?id=HD8rAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA14 National Academies 15 9780685143988 NAP:12972 Intensity of shaking Location Epicentral distance Focal distance1 V Brașov 91 143 VI Vrâncioaia 2 110 VI–VII CraiovaGalați 288112 308157 VII–VIII AlexandriaBuzăuFocșaniPloieștiZimnicea 2348039115268 259136117159290 VII–IX Bucharest 166 199 1Based on focal depth of 110 km Bucharest thumb|200px|The collapsed Computer Center building The city center saw the greatest destruction and loss of life, since the earthquake particularly affected multi-storey buildings, mostly apartment buildings. Iconic interwar structures along the Bulevardul Nicolae Bălcescu – Bulevardul Magheru axis, such as the Algiu (popularly known as Scala), Dunărea, and Casata buildings, and the nearby Continental-Colonadelor and Nestor buildings, completely or largely collapsed, while portions of others gave way.March 4, 1977, on Magheru http://www.bucurestiivechisinoi.ro/2011/02/4-martie-1977-pe-magheru-1/ bucurestiivechisinoi.ro 13 February 2011 Romanian 29 April 2018 Out of the 33 multi-story buildings that collapsed, 28 were built between 1920 and 1940, a period when earthquake-resistant design was unknown. Two buildings which collapsed were built in the communist era: a building from the Lizeanu housing complex (built in 1962) had a small section of it collapse during the earthquake because a support column was cut at one of the end sections of the building (ground floor, at a store), leading to that section eventually being demolished and mostly never rebuilt, and an apartment block in Militari named OD16 and built around 1972–1975 fully collapsed due to construction defects (at the time sub-standard concrete had been found used in the said building, and air pockets were formed in the concrete during construction, and even a boot was found in the concrete).http://www.ziare.com/stiri/eveniment/se-implinesc-34-de-ani-de-la-marele-cutremur-din-19-77-video-1079340 Se împlinesc 34 de ani de la marele cutremur din 1977 Ziare.com 4 March 2011 ro Three public buildings, the Ministry of Metallurgy, the Faculty of Chemistry, and the Computer Center also collapsed, but were not heavily staffed at the time of the earthquake.http://gemecd.org/event/170 Vrancea Romania 1977 (CAR) GEM Earthquake Consequences Database 2014-09-21 2015-02-22 https://web.archive.org/web/20150222003954/http://gemecd.org/event/170 dead On 5 March, the first toll of the disaster indicated 508 fatalities and 2,600 injuries.http://www.historia.ro/exclusiv_web/general/articol/cutremurul-4-martie-1977-55-secunde-cosmar Cutremurul din 4 martie 1977 – 55 de secunde de coșmar Historia Cornel Ilie ro 2014-09-21 2017-02-11 https://web.archive.org/web/20170211162112/http://www.historia.ro/exclusiv_web/general/articol/cutremurul-4-martie-1977-55-secunde-cosmar dead A final toll showed that 90% of the victims were from Bucharest: 1,424 deaths and 7,598 injuries.http://www.nipne.ro/rjp/2007_52_1-2/0171_0196.pdf Large Vrancea intermediate depth earthquakes and seismic microzonation of Bucharest urban area nipne.ro Horia Hulubei National Institute of Physics and Nuclear Engineering Neculai Mândrescu Mircea Radulian Gheorghe Mărmureanu Bogdan Grecu 16 October 2006http://www.unisdr.org/2005/wcdr/thematic-sessions/presentations/session4-6/romania-dr-lungu.pdf Seismic risk mitigation in the Romania – Synergy from international projects unisdr.org Dan Lungu No catastrophic fires occurred, but electrical power was lost in large areas of the city for about a day. Nine of 35 hospitals were evacuated. Other Romanian cities In the cities of Focșani and Buzău, unreinforced masonry walls in low-rise construction collapsed partially or totally, and there were signs of movement between structural elements and adjacent masonry in-fill walls in recently constructed buildings. The city of Zimnicea was reported to be in ruins: 175 houses collapsed, while 523 sustained serious damage, 4,000 people were displaced, and there were hundreds of victims. In as much as 80% of the city was destroyed, Zimnicea was rebuilt from the ground.http://www.digi24.ro/Stiri/Digi24/Special/Raport+de+tara/Teleorman/RAPORT+DE+TARA+Orasul+Zimnicea+reconstruit+din+temelii+dupa+cutr RAPORT DE ȚARĂ. Orașul Zimnicea, reconstruit din temelii după cutremurul din 1977 Digi24 12 June 2013 ro In Craiova, more than 550 buildings were severely damaged, among them the Museum of Art, the Oltenia Museum, the university and the County Library. Initial estimates indicate a total of 30 dead and 300 wounded. Vaslui also suffered heavy losses, both human – seven people dead, and material.http://www.realitatea.net/cum-a-scapat-ceausescu-de-cutremurul-din-1977_919356.html Cum a scăpat CEAUȘESCU de CUTREMURUL din 1977 realitatea.net 3 March 2012 ro 2013-05-03 https://web.archive.org/web/20130516004417/http://www.realitatea.net/cum-a-scapat-ceausescu-de-cutremurul-din-1977_919356.html 2013-05-16 dead In Ploiești around 200 homes were destroyed, and a further 2,000 were seriously damaged; the situation was also serious in Buzău County, where about 1,900 buildings were affected. In Plopeni, a Worker's Dormitory made of masonry totally collapsed, killing 30 to 60 workers and injuring many. Counties in Transylvania and Dobruja showed no serious damage. The earthquake induced geomorphological phenomena in southern, eastern and northern Wallachia, as well as southern Moldavia. These consisted in landslides, liquefaction, settlements, water spurting; in the Vrancea Mountains, the course of the Zăbala River was partially blocked, forming a small natural dam lake.http://www.cutremur.net/2014/03/cutremurul-din-4-martie-1977.html Cutremurul din 4 martie 1977 cutremur.net 3 March 2014 ro 21 September 2014 9 April 2018 https://web.archive.org/web/20180409225218/http://www.cutremur.net/2014/03/cutremurul-din-4-martie-1977.html dead Bulgaria thumb|200px|Damaged bell tower in the Bulgarian village of Yuper The earthquake of 4 March heavily impacted Bulgaria. The city of Svishtov was the most affected. Here, three blocks of flats collapsed, killing up to 120 people, among them 27 children.http://bnr.bg/en/post/100143807/svishtov-commemorates-memory-of-1977-earthquake-victims Svishtov commemorates memory of 1977 earthquake victims Radio Bulgaria 4 March 2012 Many other buildings were damaged, including the Church of the Holy Trinity.http://www.gandul.info/stiri/cutremurul-din-4-martie-1977-37-de-ani-de-la-seismul-care-a-facut-peste-1-500-de-morti-inregistrare-audio-realizata-in-timpul-cutremurului-galerie-foto-video-12190514 Cutremurul din 4 martie 1977 – 37 de ani de la seismul care a făcut peste 1.500 de morți. Înregistrare audio realizată în timpul cutremurului Gândul 4 March 2013 ro In Ruse, the tremors were strong but there was little damage; only one person perished, hit by a huge architectural ornament that fell down from a nearby building. Soviet Moldova According to official data, 2,765 buildings were destroyed in the Moldavian SSR, while 20,763 buildings suffered significant damage.Atlasul R.S.S.M. Academy of Sciences of MSSR Antoseac G. Grosulea I. 1978 roBulletin of the Institute of Geology and Seismology of the Academy of Sciences of Moldova 2 2006 ro Spatial distribution of human casualties December 2019 Country County Locality Killed Injured Hospitalized(among theinjured) Bulgaria Svishtov 120 165 not known Moldova 2 not known Yugoslavia 0 0 Romania Total (Romania) 1,578 11,321 2,369 Dolj 41 315 to 562 not known Teleorman 20 204 67 Prahova 15 (or >50?) not known not known Vaslui 7 40 Iași 4 270 to 440 Brăila 3 5 Vrancea 2 23 5 Buzău 0 55 not known Giurgiu 1 35 Other 61? 2,359 to 2,776 797 Bucharest 1,424 7,598 1,500 Plopeni Worker's Dormitory 30 to 60? many not known Craiova 30 500 Vălenii de Munte 7? Iași 4 270 to 440 Zimnicea 5 62 Turnu Măgurele 4 70 Roșiorii de Vede 4 not known Alexandria 3 Brăila 3 5 Giurgiu 1 35 Focșani 1 not known Odobești 1 Năruja 0 1 1 Event total 1,700 ~11,500 ~3,942 Aftershocks The earthquake epicenter was located in the south-west part of Vrancea County, the most active seismic area in Romania, at a depth of about 85.3 km on. The shock wave was felt in almost all countries in the Balkan Peninsula, as well as the Soviet republics of Ukraine and Moldavia, albeit with a lower intensity. Seismic movement was followed by aftershocks of smaller magnitude. The strongest aftershock occurred on the morning of 5 March 1977, at 02:00 AM, at a depth of 109 km on, with a magnitude was 4.9 on the Richter scale. Other aftershocks' magnitudes did not exceed 4.3 or 4.5 w y.http://www.ziare.com/articole/cutremurul+din+1977 Cutremurul din 1977 Reactions of authorities At the time of the earthquake, Nicolae and Elena Ceaușescu were on an official visit to Nigeria. Ceaușescu heard about the disaster in the country from a Romanian official.https://historia.ro/sectiune/general/cutremurul-din-1977-ceausescu-s-a-intors-de-568176.html Cutremurul din 1977. Ceaușescu s-a întors de urgență în țară ro Alexandru Armă Historia December 30, 2024 Initially, news about the earthquake were confusing, and people talked about a much larger catastrophe. Due to a power failure in Bucharest, communication services were down for several hours. The population took to the streets, scared of possible aftershocks. At that moment, authorities had not taken any concrete steps."5 martie 1977, la o zi după cutremur", Museum of Photography Residents of many damaged buildings took part in ad hoc rescue efforts. Doctors, soldiers, and many civilians helped in these rescue efforts. Nine hospitals were shut down. Floreasca Emergency Hospital in Bucharest, having been seriously damaged, was overwhelmed, and subsequently evacuated. The Dinamo Stadium was turned into a triage point for the wounded. By the morning of March 5 work was underway on reestablishing basic utilities – the water, gas, and electrical grids, as well as the phone lines."Cutremurul din 4 Martie 1977 (video "În premieră", TVR, plus alte mărturii)", Război întru Cuvânt The presidential couple and the Romanian delegation in Nigeria returned to Romania during the night of 4–5 March 1977, arriving at Otopeni Airport at 8:15am. Afterwards Nicolae Ceaușescu imposed a state of emergency throughout the country. In the following days, the Head of State conducted visits to Bucharest to assess damage.https://jurnalul.ro/stiri/observator/4-martie-1977-ziua-in-care-romania-a-fost-zguduita-video-606017.html 4 martie 1977, ziua în care România a fost zguduită ro Jurnalul Național March 4, 2012 December 30, 2024 Teams of soldiers and firefighters responsible for the rescue of possible survivors received aid from the Red Cross. They were joined by the Buftea film studio stuntmen and many volunteers. Many people were rescued from the ruins, some after several days of being trapped. Notable victims Individuals killed in the earthquake include:April 2021 Anatol E. Baconsky, essayist, poet, novelist, publicist, literary theorist and translatorCiprian Plăiașu https://historia.ro/sectiune/general/cutremurul-care-a-schimbat-fata-capitalei-586433.html Cutremurul care a schimbat fața Capitalei ro Historia May 11, 2010 December 17, 2022 Doina Badea, pop music singer Alexandru Bocăneț ro, film director Savin Bratu ro, editor, critic and literary historian Toma Caragiu, actor Daniela Caurea ro, poet Florin Ciorăscu ro, physicist and corresponding member of the Romanian Academy Tudor Dumitrescu ro, pianist and composer of classical music Mihai Gafița, critic, literary historian and writer Despina Ghinokastra Istrati ro, painter and illustrator Alexandru Ivasiuc, writer and novelist Mihaela Mărăcineanu ro, mezzo-soprano and soloist of the Romanian Opera in Bucharest Corina Nicolescu ro, curator and art historian Mihail Petroveanu, critic and literary historian Eliza Petrăchescu ro, actress Liviu Popa ro, architect, illustrator and scenographer Corneliu M. Popescu, translator Veronica Porumbacu, poet, writer, memoirist, author of children's literature and translator Ioan Siadbei, philologist and literary historian Tudor Stavru ro, sportsman and stunt performer Nicolae Vătămanu, doctor and photographer Viorica Vizante, translator Niculina Ceaușescu, niece of Nicolae Ceaușescu See also Romania Bulgaria Earth sciences Intermediate-depth earthquake List of earthquakes in 1977 List of earthquakes in Romania List of earthquakes in Bulgaria 1940 Vrancea earthquake, affecting Bucharest with a magnitude of 7.4–7.7. The Bulgarian film Sweet and BitterIMDb, "Sweet and Bitter" was aired by TVR 1 and has remained linked to the earthquake in the mind of Romanians.30 de ani de la marea zguduială, Florentina Stoian, Adevărul, 3 March 2007 References External links Roxana Roseti, "7,2 grade Richter", Jurnalul Național, March 4, 2007 700695 Category:1977 earthquakes Category:1977 in Romania Category:1977 in Bulgaria Category:1977 in the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic Category:1977 in Ukraine Category:1977 disasters in the Soviet Union Category:Earthquakes in Romania Category:Earthquakes in Bulgaria Category:Earthquakes in Moldova Category:Earthquakes in Ukraine Category:Earthquakes in the Soviet Union Category:1970s in Bucharest Category:Svishtov Category:Socialist Republic of Romania Category:Disasters in Bucharest Category:March 1977 in Europe Category:1977 disasters in Europe Category:1977 disasters in Romania Category:1977 disasters in Bulgaria