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| Date | 4 March 1977 |
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| Magnitude | 7.2 |
| Epicenter | Vrancea County, Romania[1] |
| Countries or regions | Romania, Bulgaria, Moldova |
| Casualties | 1570+ dead 11,000+ injured |
The 1977 Vrancea Earthquake occurred on Friday, 4 March 1977, 21:20 local time and was felt throughout the Balkans. It had a magnitude of 7.2 with an epicenter in Vrancea (in the Eastern Carpathians) at a depth of 94 kilometers (58 mi).
The earthquake killed about 1,578 people (1,424 in Bucharest), and wounded more than 11,300.[2] Among the victims was the Romanian actor Toma Caragiu. Nicolae Ceauşescu suspended his official trip to Nigeria.
About 35,000 buildings were damaged, and the total damage was estimated at more than two billion dollars. Most of the damage was concentrated in Romania's capital, Bucharest, where about 33 large buildings collapsed. Most of those buildings were built before World War II, and were not reinforced. Many of the historic buildings that collapsed were not rebuilt; instead, the land was cleared for the building of the Palace of the Parliament. After the earthquake, the Romanian government imposed tougher construction standards.
In Bulgaria, the earthquake is known as the Vrancea Earthquake or Svishtov Earthquake. Three blocks of flats in the Bulgarian town of Svishtov (near Zimnicea) collapsed, killing more than 100 people. Many other buildings were damaged, including the Church of the Holy Trinity. In the Soviet Republic of Moldova the earthquake destroyed and damaged many buildings. In the capital Chişinău, a panic broke out.
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Most property damage was concentrated in Bucharest, where over 33 buildings and structures collapsed. Zimnicea was virtually destroyed, and authorities planned to rebuild it from scratch. The earthquake epicenter was located in the south-west part of Vrancea County, the most active seismic area in Romania, at a depth of about 94 km (58 mi). The shock wave was felt in almost all countries in the Balkan Peninsula, as well as Ukraine and Moldova, albeit with a lower intensity. Seismic movement was followed by aftershocks of low magnitude. The strongest aftershock occurred on the morning of 5 March 1977, at 02:00 AM, at a depth of 109 km (68 mi), with a magnitude was 4.9 on the Richter scale. Other aftershocks' magnitudes did not exceed 4.3 or 4.5 Mw.[3]