1977 Vrancea earthquake
1977 Vrancea earthquake is located in Romania
1977 Vrancea earthquake
UTC time1977-03-04 19:21:57
ISC event700695
USGS-ANSSComCat
Local date4 March 1977 (1977-03-04)
Local time21:21:57
Duration55 seconds
Magnitude7.5 Mw[1]
Depth85.3 kilometres (53 mi)[1][2]
Epicenter45°46′N 26°46′E / 45.77°N 26.76°E / 45.77; 26.76
Areas affectedRomania
Bulgaria
Soviet Union
Moldavian SSR
Ukrainian SSR
Total damageUS$ 2.048 billion
Max. intensityIX (Violent)
LandslidesYes
Casualties1,578 dead, 11,221 injured in Romania
120 dead, 165 injured in Bulgaria
2 dead in Moldova
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,[1] 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.[1][3]

The earthquake killed about 1,578 people (1,424 in Bucharest) in Romania, and wounded more than 11,300.[4] 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.[5] 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.[3] 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 would use the earthquake as a pretext to start the major demolitions campaign in Bucharest in 1982, a campaign that lasted up to 1991.

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 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 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,[6] 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.[6] 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.[6]

Preliminary estimates of the intensity of shaking in various parts of Romania[7]
Intensity of shakingLocationEpicentral distanceFocal distance1
VBrașov91143
VIVrâncioaia2110
VI–VIICraiova
Galați		288
112		308
157
VII–VIIIAlexandria
Buzău
Focșani
Ploiești
Zimnicea		234
80
39
115
268		259
136
117
159
290
VII–IXBucharest166199

1Based on focal depth of 110 km

Bucharest

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 Scala, Dunărea, and Casata buildings, and the nearby Continental-Colonadelor and Nestor buildings, completely or largely collapsed, while portions of others gave way.[8] Out of the 33 multi-storey 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).[9] 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.[10] On 5 March, the first toll of the disaster indicated 508 fatalities and 2,600 injuries.[11] A final toll showed that 90% of the victims were from Bucharest: 1,424 deaths and 7,598 injuries.[12][13]

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.[11] In as much as 80% of the city was destroyed, Zimnicea was rebuilt from the ground.[14] 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.[11] Vaslui also suffered heavy losses, both human – seven people dead, and material.[15]

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.[11] In Plopeni, a Worker's Dormitory made of masonry totally collapsed, killing 30 to 60 workers and injuring many.[10] 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.[16]

Bulgaria

Damaged bell tower in the Bulgarian village of Yurev

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.[17] Many other buildings were damaged, including the Church of the Holy Trinity.[18] 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.[19][20]

Spatial distribution of human casualties

CountryRomanian
county		Town/VillageKilledInjuredHospitalized
(among the
injured)
BulgariaSvishtov120165not known
Moldova2not knownnot known
Yugoslavia0not known0
Romania1,57811,3212,369
Dolj41315 to 562not known
Teleorman2020467
Prahova15 (or >50?)not knownnot known
Vaslui740not known
Iași4270 to 440not known
Brăila35not known
Vrancea2235
Buzău055not known
Giurgiu135not known
other county61?2,359 to 2,776797
Bucharest1,4247,5981,500
Plopeni Worker's Dormitory30 to 60?manynot known
Craiova30500not known
Vălenii de Munte7?not known
Iași4270 to 440not known
Zimnicea562not known
Turnu Măgurele470not known
Roșiorii de Vede4not knownnot known
Alexandria3not knownnot known
Brăila35not known
Giurgiu135not known
Focșani1not knownnot known
Odobești1not knownnot known
Năruja011
Event total1,700~11,500~3,942

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 (53.0 mi). 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 (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.[21]

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 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.[22]

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.[23]

The presidential couple and the 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.[24]

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:

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 ISC-OB Event 700695 [IRIS].
  2. ↑ "Cutremurul din 1977" Archived 2013-03-04 at the Wayback Machine, Comunismul în România
  3. 1 2 Pandea, Razvan-Adrian (4 March 2014). "March 4, 1977 Earthquake". Agerpres. Archived from the original on 28 August 2020. Retrieved 30 May 2015.
  4. ↑ "Cutremurul din 1977".
  5. ↑ 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 978-9401059947.
  6. 1 2 3 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.
  7. ↑ Earthquake in Romania, March 4, 1977: An Engineering Report. National Academies. 1980. p. 15. ISBN 9780685143988. NAP:12972.
  8. ↑ "March 4, 1977, on Magheru". www.bucurestiivechisinoi.ro (in Romanian). Retrieved 29 April 2018.
  9. ↑ "Se împlinesc 34 de ani de la marele cutremur din 1977". Ziare.com (in Romanian). 4 March 2011.
  10. 1 2 "Vrancea Romania 1977 (CAR)". GEM Earthquake Consequences Database. Archived from the original on 2015-02-22. Retrieved 2014-09-21.
  11. 1 2 3 4 Cornel Ilie. "Cutremurul din 4 martie 1977 – 55 de secunde de coșmar". Historia (in Romanian). Archived from the original on 2017-02-11. Retrieved 2014-09-21.
  12. ↑ Neculai Mândrescu; Mircea Radulian; Gheorghe Mărmureanu; Bogdan Grecu (16 October 2006). "Large Vrancea intermediate depth earthquakes and seismic microzonation of Bucharest urban area" (PDF). www.nipne.ro. Horia Hulubei National Institute of Physics and Nuclear Engineering.
  13. ↑ Dan Lungu. "Seismic risk mitigation in the Romania – Synergy from international projects" (PDF). www.unisdr.org.
  14. ↑ "RAPORT DE ȚARĂ. Orașul Zimnicea, reconstruit din temelii după cutremurul din 1977". Digi24 (in Romanian). 12 June 2013.
  15. ↑ "Cum a scăpat CEAUȘESCU de CUTREMURUL din 1977". www.realitatea.net (in Romanian). 3 March 2012. Archived from the original on 2013-05-16. Retrieved 2013-05-03.
  16. ↑ "Cutremurul din 4 martie 1977". www.cutremur.net (in Romanian). 3 March 2014. Archived from the original on 9 April 2018. Retrieved 21 September 2014.
  17. ↑ "Svishtov commemorates memory of 1977 earthquake victims". Radio Bulgaria. 4 March 2012.
  18. ↑ "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.
  19. ↑ Antoseac, G.; Grosulea, I. (1978). Atlasul R.S.S.M. (in Romanian). Academy of Sciences of MSSR.
  20. ↑ Bulletin of the Institute of Geology and Seismology of the Academy of Sciences of Moldova (in Romanian). 2006.
  21. ↑ "Cutremurul din 1977".
  22. ↑ "5 martie 1977, la o zi după cutremur", Museum of Photography
  23. ↑ "CUTREMURUL DIN 4 MARTIE 1977 (video «În premieră», TVR, plus alte mărturii)", Război întru Cuvânt
  24. ↑ "4 martie 1977, ziua în care România a fost zguduită" Archived 2013-10-23 at the Wayback Machine, Jurnalul.ro
  25. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Plăiașu, Ciprian (May 11, 2010). "Cutremurul care a schimbat fața Capitalei". Historia (in Romanian). Retrieved December 17, 2022.
  26. ↑ IMDb, "Sweet and Bitter"
  27. ↑ 30 de ani de la marea zguduială, Florentina Stoian, Adevărul, 3 March 2007
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