The 2014 Vrancea earthquake struck

Vrancea County Vrancea () is a county ( județ) in Romania, with its seat at Focșani. It is mostly in the historical region of Moldavia but the southern part, below the Milcov River, is in Muntenia. Demographics In 2011, it had a population of 340,310 and ...

on 22 November 2014 at , with a

moment magnitude The moment magnitude scale (MMS; denoted explicitly with or Mw, and generally implied with use of a single M for magnitude) is a measure of an earthquake's magnitude ("size" or strength) based on its seismic moment. It was defined in a 1979 pape ...

of 5.7. The earthquake occurred at a depth of 39 kilometers and lasted for thirty seconds. On the

Mercalli scale The Modified Mercalli intensity scale (MM, MMI, or MCS), developed from Giuseppe Mercalli's Mercalli intensity scale of 1902, is a seismic intensity scale used for measuring the intensity of shaking produced by an earthquake. It measures the eff ...

the quake registered an intensity of VI (Strong). The earthquake was felt in northern

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 Macedon ...

and the Moldovan city of

Chișinău Chișinău ( , , ), also known as Kishinev (russian: Кишинёв, r=Kishinjóv ), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Republic of Moldova. The city is Moldova's main industrial and commercial center, and is located in the ...

. Towns located near the epicenter include:

Mărășești Mărășești () is a small town in Vrancea County, Western Moldavia, Romania. It administers six villages: Călimănești, Haret, Modruzeni, Pădureni, Siretu and Tișița. Geography The town is located in the eastern part of the county, on the ...

(6 kilometers),

Tecuci Tecuci () is a city in Galați County, Romania, in the historical region of Western Moldavia. It is situated among wooded hills, on the right bank of the Bârlad River, and at the junction of railways from Galați, Bârlad, and Mărășești. ...

(22 kilometers),

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 ...

(21 kilometers),

Adjud Adjud (; hu, Egyedhalma) is a municipiu, city in Vrancea County, Western Moldavia, Romania. It has a population of 14,670 inhabitants (2011). It lies at a railway junction which has a classification yard and a passenger station. Adjud, situated ...

(25 kilometers) and

Onești Onești (; hu, Ónfalva) is a municipiu, city in Bacău County, Romania, with a population of 39,172 inhabitants. It is situated in the historical region of Western Moldavia, Moldavia. Administratively, the villages of Slobozia and Borzești ...

(51 kilometers).

Mircea Radulian Mircea is a Romanian language, Romanian masculine given name, a form of the South Slavic name Mirče (Мирче) that derives from the Slavic word ''mir'', meaning 'peace'. It may refer to: People Princes of Wallachia * Mircea I of Wallachi ...

, the leader of Institutul Național de Cercetare-Dezvoltare pentru Fizica Pământului, reported that in

Galați Galați (, , ; also known by other alternative names) is the capital city of Galați County in the historical region of Western Moldavia, in eastern Romania. Galați is a port town on the Danube River. It has been the only port for the most par ...

and

, towns nearer the epicenter, moment magnitude measured over 6.0.

Damage

Shortly after the earthquake, Mobile Telephone network services were disrupted. The frontage of an old building in

Tulcea Tulcea (; also known by other alternative names) is a city in Northern Dobruja, Romania. It is the administrative center of Tulcea County, and had a population of 73,707 . One village, Tudor Vladimirescu, is administered by the city. Names Th ...

was damaged, and a radiator installed in a sixth-floor apartment fell and injured the owner. Four communes in Vrancea County lost electrical power. In

, a portion of a roof collapsed, and a road cracked. Residents of northern

Galați County Galați () is a county ( județ) of Romania, in Moldavia region, with the capital city at Galați. History Historically Galați is part of Moldavia. In 1858, it was represented by Alexandru Ioan Cuza at the ''ad hoc Divan'' at Iași, in the wa ...

were affected by electrical outages and water shortages.

Aftershocks

A list of aftershocks is included below.

References

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