The 1990 Vrancea earthquakes were three earthquakes on 30 and 31 May 1990 with magnitudes of 7.0 and 6.2 that struck the Romanian county of Vrancea, on two consecutive days. Severe damage in the

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 ...

- Brăila-

Brașov Brașov (, , ; german: Kronstadt; hu, Brassó; la, Corona; Transylvanian Saxon: ''Kruhnen'') is a city in Transylvania, Romania and the administrative centre of Brașov County. According to the latest Romanian census (2011), Brașov has a pop ...

area was reported and dozens of casualties in Romania and neighbouring

Moldova Moldova ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Moldova ( ro, Republica Moldova), is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. The unrecognised state of Transnistr ...

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

and

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...

. The seismic doublet of May 1990 consisted of two mainshocks occurred at a distance of only 13 hours. The first mainshock took place in the afternoon of 30 May 1990, at 13:40:06 (local hour). The epicenter was located in the northeastern part of the

Vrancea Mountains The Vrancea Mountains ( ro, Munții Vrancei) are a mountain range in the Curvature Carpathians in Romania. Located mostly in western Vrancea County, they also cover parts of Bacău, Buzău, and Covasna counties. The highest peak is , at . To ...

(), at a depth of 89 km. The earthquake had a magnitude of 6.7 or 6.9, the intensity in the epicentral area being of VIII degrees on the Mercalli intensity scale, and VII degrees in

. On the morning of 31 May 1990, at 3:17 (local hour), occurred the second mainshock, at a depth of 79–86 km, having the magnitude 6.1 or 6.3. The event was felt in the epicentral area with an intensity of VII degrees on the Mercalli intensity scale, and VI degrees in

; likewise, the quake was felt strong enough in

Dobruja Dobruja or Dobrudja (; bg, Добруджа, Dobrudzha or ''Dobrudža''; ro, Dobrogea, or ; tr, Dobruca) is a historical region in the Balkans that has been divided since the 19th century between the territories of Bulgaria and Romania. I ...

. In the

USGS The United States Geological Survey (USGS), formerly simply known as the Geological Survey, is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, a ...

EXPO-CAT database it is estimated that during this earthquake 355,000 people were exposed to intensity VII, of which around 61% were in rural areas.

Aftershocks

The first mainshock was followed by several aftershocks with magnitudes ranging between 3–4.5 degrees 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 ...

, reported in the afternoon and evening of 30 May. On the morning of 31 May 1990 continued the replicas of the two mainshocks. Thus, at 7:48 (local hour) occurred a replica of magnitude 4.7, felt in Bucharest with an intensity of IV degrees on the Mercalli intensity scale. Other replicas of lower magnitudes continued to occur in Vrancea until the end of June 1990, in the depth floor of 70–90 km. Secondary seismic movements, at the same depth, were recorded and later, until October 1990.

Damage

Economic losses have been reported by

Munich Re Munich Re Group or Munich Reinsurance Company (german: Münchener Rück; Münchener Rückversicherungs-Gesellschaft) is a German multinational insurance company based in Munich, Germany. It is one of the world's leading reinsurers. ERGO, a Muni ...

to be in the region of 30 million US$. In

, the earthquake caused damage to property worth 100 million rubles.

Casualties

According to data from the General Inspectorate of Police, the earthquake killed nine people. Two of the deaths occurred in Bucharest in the district of Colentina, when the heavy plasterboard of an 11-storey apartment block collapsed along the expansion joint, due to pounding between the two separate parts of the structure. Were injured in total 362 persons, including 100 severely, namely: Bucharest 35, Bacău 14, Brașov 3, Brăila 11, Dolj 1, Galați 12, Ialomița 4, Prahova 14, Vaslui 1, Vrancea 2. Were slightly injured 262 people, of which 103 in Bucharest, 16 in Bacău, 14 in Brașov, 47 in Brăila, 7 in Covasna, 20 in Dolj, 10 in Galați, 8 in Ialomița, 20 in Prahova, 1 in Vrancea. The injuries and deaths were a result of falling chimneys, pieces of construction materials from the upper floors of buildings. In

Moldavia Moldavia ( ro, Moldova, or , literally "The Country of Moldavia"; in Romanian Cyrillic alphabet, Romanian Cyrillic: or ; chu, Землѧ Молдавскаѧ; el, Ἡγεμονία τῆς Μολδαβίας) is a historical region and for ...

, four people died and dozens were injured, and in northern

, one person died of a heart attack.

References

Sources

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External links