1977 Vrancea

earthquake

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 7.2, making it the second
most powerful earthquake recorded in
Romania in the 20th century, after 10
November 1940 seismic event. The
epicenter was situated in the Vrancea
Mountains, the most seismically active
part of Romania, at a depth of 94 km.[2]
1977 Vrancea earthquake

UTC time ??

ISC event

USGS-ANSS

Date * 4 March 1977

Origin time * 19:21:54.3 (UTC)

Local date

Local time

Duration 55 seconds

Magnitude 7.2 Mw

Depth 94 km[1]
Epicenter 45°46′N 26°46′E

Areas affected Romania

Bulgaria
Soviet Union
Moldavian SSR
Ukrainian SSR

Total damage US$ 2.048 billion

Max. intensity IX (violent)

Landslides Yes

Casualties 1,578 dead, 11,221

injured in Romania
120 dead, 165 injured
in Bulgaria
2 dead in Moldova

* Deprecated  See documentation.

Enei Church, severely damaged during the 1977
earthquake, was later demolished.

The earthquake killed about 1,578 people

(1,424 in Bucharest) in Romania, and
wounded more than 11,300.[3] 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.[4] 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. A detailed report on the destruction
the earthquake caused was never
published.[2] 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.

In Bulgaria, the earthquake is known as

the Vrancea earthquake or Svishtov
earthquake. Three blocks of flats in the
Bulgarian town of Svishtov (near
Zimnicea) collapsed, killing more than
100 people. Many other buildings were
damaged, including the Church of the
Holy Trinity. In the Soviet Moldavia, the
earthquake destroyed and damaged
many buildings. In the capital Chișinău, a
panic broke out.

Damage and casualties

The earthquake of 4 March 1977 was
one of the worst earthquake disasters of
the 1970s around the world. It caused
the loss of 1,578 lives and injured an
additional 11,221,[5] 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
damage in all sectors of the economy.[5]
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.[5]
Preliminary estimates of the intensity of shaking in various parts of Romania[6]
Intensity of shaking Location Epicentral distance Focal distance1

V Brașov 91 143

VI Vrâncioaia 2 110

Craiova 288 308

VI–VII
Galați 112 157

Alexandria 234 259

Buzău 80 136
VII–VIII Focșani 39 117
Ploiești 115 159
Zimnicea 268 290

VII–IX Bucharest 166 199

1Based on focal depth of 110 km

Bucharest

The city centre saw the largest scale

destruction and loss of life, since the
earthquake particularly affected multi-
storey buildings, mostly apartment
buildings. Iconic interwar structures
along the Bulevardul Balcescu Nicolae -
Bulevardul Magheru such as the Scala
confectionary building, the Dunărea, and
the Casata, and the nearby Continental-
Colonadelor and Nestor buildings,
completely or largely collapsed, while
portions of others gave way.[7] Out of the
33 multi-storeyed buildings that
collapsed, 28 were built between 1920
and 1940, a period when earthquake
resistant design was unknown. 2
buildings that collapsed were built in the
communist era: a building from the
Lizeanu housing complex, which was
built in 1962 had a small section of it
collapsed during the earthquake because
a support column was cut at the from the
building, leading to that section
eventually being demolished and mostly
never rebuilt, and a 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).[8] Three public buildings,
the Ministry of Metallurgy, the Faculty of
Chemistry and the Computer Centre also
collapsed, but were not heavily occupied
due to the time of the earthquake. [9] On
5 March, the first toll of the disaster
indicates 508 fatalities and 2,600
injuries.[10] A final toll showed that 90%
of the victims were from Bucharest:
1,424 deaths and 7,598 injuries.[11][12]

No critical 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 engineered buildings.
The city of Zimnicea was reported in
ruins: 175 houses collapsed, while 523
sustained serious damage, 4,000 people
were displaced, and there were hundreds
of victims.[10] Inasmuch as 80% of the
city was destroyed, Zimnicea was rebuilt
from the ground.[13] 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.[10]
Vaslui also suffered heavy losses, both
human – 7 people dead, and material.[14]

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.[10]
In Plopeni, a Worker's Dormitory made of
masonry totally collapsed, killing 30 to 60
workers and injuring many.[9] 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 Vrancea Mountains, the course of
Zăbala River was partially blocked,
forming a small natural dam lake.[15]

Bulgaria

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.[16]
Many other buildings were damaged,
including the Church of the Holy
Trinity.[17] 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.
Moldova

According to official data, 2,765 buildings

were destroyed in the Moldavian SSR,
while 20,763 buildings suffered more or
less significant damage.[18][19]

Spatial distribution of human

casualties
 Hospitalized
Romanian
Country Town/Village Killed Injured (among the
county
injured)

Romania 1,578 11,321 2,369

Bulgaria Svishtov 120 165 not known

Moldova 2 not known not known

Yugoslavia 0 some 0

Dolj 41 315 to 562 n/a

Teleorman 20 204 67

15 (or
Prahova not known not known
>50?)

Vaslui 7 40 not known

Iași 4 270 to 440 not known

Brăila 3 5 not known

Vrancea 2 23 5

Buzău 0 55 not known

Giurgiu 1 35 not known

other 2,359 to
61? 797
county 2,776

Bucharest 1,424 7,598 1,500

Plopeni Worker's
30 to 60? many not known
Dormitory

Craiova 30 500 not known

Vălenii de Munte 7? not known

Iași 4 270 to 440 not known

Zimnicea 5 62 not known

Turnu Măgurele 4 70 not known

Roșiorii de Vede 4 not known not known

Alexandria 3 not known not known

Brăila 3 5 not known

Giurgiu 1 35 not known

Focșani 1 not known not known

 Odobești 1 not known not known

Năruja 0 1 1

Event total 1,700 ~11,500 ~2,400

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 94 km (58 mi). The
shock wave was felt in almost all
countries in the Balkan Peninsula, as well
as Soviet republics of Ukraine and
Moldavia, albeit with a lower intensity.
Seismic movement was followed by
aftershocks of low magnitude. The
strongest aftershock occurred on the
morning of 5 March 1977, at 02:00 AM,
at a depth of 109 km (68 mi), with a
magnitude was 4.9 on the Richter
magnitude scale. Other aftershocks'
magnitudes did not exceed 4.3 or 4.5
Mw.[20]

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.

Initially, news about the earthquake was

confusing, and people talked about a
much larger catastrophe. Due to a power
failure in Bucharest, communication
services weren't run for several hours.
The population took to the streets,
scared of possible aftershocks. At that
moment, authorities had not taken any
concrete steps.[21]

There were rescue teams from all blocks

destroyed. Doctors, soldiers, men of
different professions were presented at
work. Nine hospitals were
decommissioned. Floreasca Emergency
Hospital in Bucharest, although seriously
damaged, was taken by storm.
Subsequently, it was evacuated. The
Dinamo Stadium was turned into a triage
point for the wounded. By the morning of
March 5 work was underway on
rehabilitating basic utilities – water, gas,
telephony, electricity.[22]

The presidential couple and Romanian

delegation in Nigeria returned to
Romania during the night of 4–5 March
1977. 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.[23]

Teams of military and firefighters

responsible for the rescue of possible
survivors received aid from the Red
Cross. They were joined by the Buftea
film studio stuntsmen and many
volunteers. Many people were rescued
from the ruins, some after several days
of being trapped.

Personalities killed in the

earthquake
Anatol E. Baconsky, essayist, poet,
novelist, publicist, literary theorist and
translator
Doina Badea, pop music singer
Alexandru Bocăneț, film director
Savin Bratu, editor, critic and literary
historian
Toma Caragiu, actor
Daniela Caurea, poet
Florin Ciorăscu, physicist and
corresponding member of the
Romanian Academy
Tudor Dumitrescu, pianist and
composer of classical music
Mihai Gafița, critic, literary historian
and writer
Despina Ghinokastra Istrati, painter
and illustrator
Alexandru Ivasiuc, writer and novelist

Mihaela Mărăcineanu, mezzo-soprano

and soloist of the Romanian Opera in
Bucharest
Corina Nicolescu, curator and art
historian
Mihail Petroveanu, critic and literary
historian
Eliza Petrăchescu, actress
Liviu Popa, 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, sportsman and stunt
performer
Nicolae Vătămanu, doctor and
photographer
Viorica Vizante, translator

See also
The Bulgarian film Sweet and Bitter[24]
was aired by TVR 1 and has remained
 linked to the earthquake in the mind of
Romanians.[25]
November 10, 1940, Vrancea
earthquake, striking Bucharest with a
magnitude of 7.4 to 7.7.
List of earthquakes in Romania
List of earthquakes in Bulgaria

References
1. "Cutremurul din 1977" Archived 2013-
03-04 at the Wayback Machine.,
Comunismul în România
2. Pandea, Razvan-Adrian (4 March 2014).
"March 4, 1977 Earthquake" . Agerpres.
3.
http://www.referat.ro/referate/Cutremurul_
din_1977_38471.html
4. Wenzel, F.; Lungu, D., eds. (1999).
Vrancea Earthquakes: Tectonics, Hazard
and Risk Mitigation: Contributions from
the First International Workshop on
Vrancea Earthquakes, Bucharest,
Romania, November 1–4, 1997 .
Dordrecht: Springer Science & Business
Media. ISBN 9401059942.
5. Emil-Sever Georgescu; Antonios
Pomonis (October 2008). "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" (PDF).
Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur.
6. Earthquake in Romania, March 4, 1977:
An Engineering Report . National
Academies. 1980. p. 15. NAP:12972.
7. "March 4, 1977, on Magheru" .
Bucharest Old and New (in Romanian).
Retrieved 29 April 2018.
8. "Se împlinesc 34 de ani de la marele
cutremur din 1977" . Ziare.com (in
Romanian). 4 March 2011.
9. "Vrancea Romania 1977 (CAR)" . GEM
Earthquake Consequences Database.
10. Cornel Ilie. "Cutremurul din 4 martie
1977 – 55 de secunde de coșmar" .
Historia.ro (in Romanian).
11. Neculai Mândrescu; Mircea Radulian;
Gheorghe Mărmureanu; Bogdan Grecu (16
October 2006). "Large Vrancea
intermediate depth earthquakes and
seismic microzonation of Bucharest urban
area" (PDF). Horia Hulubei National
Institute of Physics and Nuclear
Engineering.
12. Dan Lungu. "Seismic risk mitigation in
the Romania – Synergy from international
projects" (PDF). UNISDR.
13. "RAPORT DE ȚARĂ. Orașul Zimnicea,
reconstruit din temelii după cutremurul din
1977" . Digi24 (in Romanian). 12 June
2013.
14. "Cum a scăpat CEAUȘESCU de
CUTREMURUL din 1977" . Realitatea.net
(in Romanian). 3 March 2012. Archived
from the original on 2013-05-16.
Retrieved 2013-05-03.
15. "Cutremurul din 4 martie 1977" .
Cutremur.net (in Romanian). 3 March
2014.
16. "Svishtov commemorates memory of
1977 earthquake victims" . Radio Bulgaria.
4 March 2012.
17. "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 (in
Romanian). 4 March 2013.
18. Antoseac, G.; Grosulea, I. (1978).
Atlasul R.S.S.M. (in Romanian). Academy
of Sciences of MSSR.
19. Bulletin of the Institute of Geology and
Seismology of the Academy of Sciences
of Moldova (in Romanian). 2006.
20.
http://www.ziare.com/articole/cutremurul
+din+1977
21. "5 martie 1977, la o zi după cutremur" ,
Museum of Photography
22. "CUTREMURUL DIN 4 MARTIE 1977
(video «În premieră», TVR, plus alte
mărturii)" , Război întru Cuvânt
23. "4 martie 1977, ziua în care România a
fost zguduită" , Jurnalul.ro
24. IMDb, "Sweet and Bitter"
25. 30 de ani de la marea zguduială ,
Florentina Stoian, Adevărul, 3 March 2007
External links
Roxana Roseti, "7,2 grade Richter" ,
Jurnalul Național, March 4, 2007
The International Seismological
Centre has a bibliography and/or
authoritative data for this event.

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