The 1738 Vrancea earthquake occurred on , during the third rule of

Constantin Mavrocordat Constantine Mavrocordatos (Greek: Κωνσταντίνος Μαυροκορδάτος, Romanian: ''Constantin Mavrocordat''; February 27, 1711November 23, 1769) was a Greek noble who served as Prince of Wallachia and Prince of Moldavia at several ...

. The seism aroused great panic and is mentioned in several sources. It occurred in the lower lithospheric block, at a depth of 130 km. Its effects were violent on large areas, the hardest hit being

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...

, where several houses and churches collapsed. The Romanian territories were not the only affected. In

Niš Niš (; sr-Cyrl, Ниш, ; names in other languages) is the third largest city in Serbia and the administrative center of the Nišava District. It is located in southern part of Serbia. , the city proper has a population of 183,164, while ...

, a Serbian city where the Ottoman army was quartered, the

fortress A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

Nišava The Nišava or Nishava (Bulgarian and sr-Cyrl, Нишава, ) is a river in Bulgaria and Serbia, a right tributary, and with a length of also the longest one, of the South Morava. Course Bulgaria The Nišava originates in western Bulgar ...

partially collapsed, and in Nikopol on Danube four mosques collapsed. At an estimated magnitude of 7.7 on the

Richter scale The Richter scale —also called the Richter magnitude scale, Richter's magnitude scale, and the Gutenberg–Richter scale—is a measure of the strength of earthquakes, developed by Charles Francis Richter and presented in his landmark 1935 ...

, the earthquake of 1738 is one of the strongest in the Romanian history.

Foreshock

According to the catalog of Cornelius Radu, several foreshocks of magnitude 5–6 occurred starting with March 1738. In a chronicle is mentioned a "large"

foreshock A foreshock is an earthquake that occurs before a larger seismic event (the mainshock) and is related to it in both time and space. The designation of an earthquake as ''foreshock'', ''mainshock'' or aftershock is only possible after the full sequ ...

on 8 May 1738. It occurred at "5 o'clock", but its magnitude is not known.

Damage

The earthquake was felt especially in

Iași Iași ( , , ; also known by other alternative names), also referred to mostly historically as Jassy ( , ), is the second largest city in Romania and the seat of Iași County. Located in the historical region of Moldavia, it has traditionally ...

Focșani Focșani (; yi, פֿאָקשאַן, Fokshan) is the capital city of Vrancea County in Romania on the banks the river Milcov, in the historical region of Moldavia. It has a population () of 79,315. Geography Focșani lies at the foot of the Curv ...

Buzău The city of Buzău (formerly spelled ''Buzeu'' or ''Buzĕu''; ) is the county seat of Buzău County, Romania, in the historical region of Muntenia. It lies near the right bank of the Buzău River, between the south-eastern curvature of the Car ...

and

Sfântu Gheorghe Sfântu Gheorghe (; hu, Sepsiszentgyörgy or ''Szentgyörgy'' ; yi, סנט דזשארדזש; English lit.: ''Saint George'') is the capital city of Covasna County, Romania. Located in the central part of the country and in the historical regio ...

. In Iași, 11 monasteries, 15 houses, 15 towers and a church steeple collapsed. In the

Carpathians The Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians () are a range of mountains forming an arc across Central Europe. Roughly long, it is the third-longest European mountain range after the Ural Mountains, Urals at and the Scandinavian Mountains at . The ...

, several

rockslide A rockslide is a type of landslide caused by rock failure in which part of the bedding plane of failure passes through compacted rock and material collapses ''en masse'' and not in individual blocks. Note that a rockslide is similar to an avalanc ...

s occurred, a large one in the Buzău River Valley. Significant damage was reported in citadels like

Rupea Rupea (german: Reps; Transylvanian Saxon: ''Räppes''; hu, Kőhalom, lit=mound of rocks; la, Ripa) is a town in Brașov County in Transylvania, Romania. It administers one village, Fișer (''Schweischer''; ''Sövénység''), which has a fortif ...

Șchei ''Șchei'' ( bg, шкеи, ''shkei'') was an old Romanian and Albanian exonym referring to the Bulgarians, especially in Transylvania and northern Wallachia. As a name, it has been preserved in the names of towns colonized in the 14th century by ...

and

Prejmer Prejmer (german: Tartlau; hu, Prázsmár) is a commune in Brașov County, Transylvania, Romania. It is composed of three villages: Lunca Câlnicului (''Farkasvágó''), Prejmer, and Stupinii Prejmerului (''Rohrau''; ''Méheskert''). Located north ...

, where walls and defending towers were destroyed or severely damaged. The seismic wave also affected the

Neamț Citadel Neamț Citadel ( ro, Cetatea Neamț or Cetatea Neamțului, ) is a medieval fortress located in north-eastern part of Romania, near Târgu Neamț, Neamț County. It was built in 14th century Moldavia during Petru I of Moldavia's reign and expanded ...

, where its thick walls collapsed. In the chronicle of Constantin Dapontes is mentioned that the walls of Princely Palace in Bucharest were cracked. In a book of hours appears that on 31 May the earth was shaken, and even "split and came out water with smell of gunpowder and brimstone". In the same book of hours is mentioned that many arches and walls of monasteries and houses in Bucharest were cracked, while "outside" churches and arches have collapsed. A Slavo-Romanian psalter gives information about the intensity of the earthquake: "the earth trembled in the month of May, on 31, midday, very strong, and went to the east and again turned backward. And the trees were shaking, like the wind, and has destroyed homes and the earth made great noise". In ''From yesterday Bucharest'' ( ro, Din Bucureștii de ieri), George Potra reminds that the calamity "began with a great roaring". Many houses and churches were damaged and a "deep fracture" was open near Bucharest. Academician Gr. Ștefănescu wrote in a study published in 1901 that, during the earthquake in 1738, church bells began to ring themselves.

References

{{Earthquakes in Romania Earthquakes in Romania 1738 in Europe Earthquakes in Serbia Disasters in Bucharest 1738 earthquakes 18th century in Romania 18th century in Serbia 1738 in Romania Earthquakes in Bulgaria

Foreshock

Damage

See also

References