Medium-intensity earthquake shakes Bucharest and Eastern Romania

An earthquake of magnitude 5.4 shook Romania’s capital Bucharest and parts of Eastern Romania on Monday afternoon, September 16, around 17:40. No damages were reported after the event.

According to the National Institute for Earth’s Physics (INFP), the earthquake occurred in the Vrancea seismic area, some 56 km North-West of Buzau and 59 km East of Brasov, at a depth of 126.8 km.

The earthquake was also felt in Eastern Romania, as far as Iasi, Bacau, Vaslui, Galati and Constanta.

This was the strongest earthquake in the Vrancea seismic area in almost two years, with a similar 5.4 magnitude earthquake reported in November 2022.

The strongest earthquake in Romania was reported on February 2, 2023 in Gorj county, 14 km North-West of Targu Jiu. It had a magnitude of 5.7 on the Richter scale. However, that was part of a longer series of medium-intensity surface earthquakes that shook the region in early-2023.

In the last ten years, the strongest earthquakes in the Vrancea region, also felt in Bucharest, were recorded on October 28, 2018 (5.8 magnitude) and November 22, 2024 (5.7 magnitude).

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