The National Research Institute of Earth Physics presents the terrible balance sheet of the March 4, 1977 earthquake and warns that “a similar event, if not even stronger, will occur again in Vranca.”

SeismographPhoto: CARLOS MUNOZ-YAGUE/EURELIOS / Sciencephoto / Profimedia
  • 46 years after the 1977 earthquake / How prepared Bucharest is for such an earthquake

Saturday, at 9:22 p.m., marks the 46th anniversary of the 1977 earthquake that killed more than 1,500 people.

INFP presents the terrible balance of the 74-magnitude earthquake, which caused the greatest seismic losses in the history of Romania. 90% of the victims were in Bucharest, mainly due to the total or partial collapse of 32 buildings – most of them built in the interwar period.

Official data show that:

  • 1,578 people died in the country (1,424 in Bucharest)
  • 11,321 people were injured (7,598 in Bucharest)
  • 120 victims were in Bulgaria and the Republic of Moldova
  • 32,900 houses were severely damaged and 182,000 were less damaged in the country
  • 200,000 people directly affected, 350,000 families left homeless
  • 763 industrial units were affected
  • 11 hospital buildings became non-functional – 9 in Bucharest, including the Floreasca and Colentina hospital buildings
  • 6 university buildings, 374 educational institutions and 763 commercial premises were damaged
  • 23 districts were seriously affected

INFP representatives warn that “such an event, if not even stronger, will take place in Vrancha”:

  • “We know that all these data are shocking, but we must understand that such an event, if not even stronger, will take place in Vrancha again.
  • We can’t (currently) predict it, but despite that ability, we still have to be prepared for it – starting with making the buildings we’re in safe and having a plan for what to do before, during and after an earthquake.” .

The INFP publishes and Interactive map “Seismic risk of Bucharest”.

Representatives of the institution specify that “the data inevitably represent a partial picture of the situation. Only individually expertized buildings with a high degree of seismic vulnerability, according to the public list of the AMCRS, are mapped on the map.

The program was developed by Toma-Danila Dragoš, a researcher at the National Research Institute of Earth Physics (INCDFP).