1977, News: Vrancea Earthquake (Romania)

The Vrancea Earthquake occurred on Friday, 4 March 1977, 21:20 local time and was felt throughout the Balkans. The epicentre was situated in Vrancea with a magnitude of 7.2 on the Richter scale at a depth of 94 km.

Around 1,578 people (1,424 in Bucharest) lost their lives and more than 11,300 were wounded. About 35,000 buildings were damaged. Most of the damage was concentrated in Romania's capital, Bucharest, where 33 large buildings collapsed.

Vrancea is an area with exceptional seismic activity. There have been 10 major earthquakes in the past:

• October 26, 1802 at 10:55, magnitude: 7.9, depth: 150 km
• March 5, 1812 at 12:30, magnitude: 6.5, depth: 130 km
• November 26, 1829 at 01:40, magnitude: 7.3, depth: 150 km
• January 23, 1838 at 18:45, magnitude: 7.5, depth: 150 km
• October 6, 1908 at 21:40, magnitude: 7.1, depth: 125 km
• November 10, 1940 at 03:39, magnitude: 7.7, depth: 133 km
• March 4, 1977 at 21:22, magnitude: 7.2, depth: 100 km
• August 31, 1986, magnitude: 7.1, depth: 131.4 km
• May 30, 1990, magnitude: 6.7, depth: 90 km
• October 27, 2004 at 20:34, magnitude 6.0, depth: 98.6 km