1940 Vrancea earthquake
UTC time | 1940-11-10 01:39:05 |
---|---|
ISC event | 901696 |
USGS-ANSS | ComCat |
Local date | 10 November 1940 |
Local time | 03:39:36 (EET)[1] |
Magnitude | 7.7 Mw[2] |
Depth | 133 km[3] |
Epicenter | 45°45′11″N 26°55′55″E / 45.753°N 26.932°E |
Areas affected | Romania, Moldova |
Total damage | 65,000 homes destroyed |
Max. intensity | MMI X (Extreme) [2][4] |
Landslides | Yes |
Foreshocks | 6.5 Mw (22 October, 8:37 am) |
Aftershocks | 5.5 Mw (11 November, 8:34 am)[5] |
Casualties | 1,000 dead, 4,000 injured (USGS)[6] 593 dead, 1,271 injured Romania, 78 dead Moldova (URBAN-INCERC)[6] |
The 1940 Vrancea earthquake, also known as the 1940 Bucharest earthquake, (Romanian: Cutremurul din 1940) occurred on Sunday, 10 November 1940, in Romania, at 03:39 (local time), when the majority of the population was at home.
The 1940 earthquake registered a magnitude of 7.7 on the
Tectonic setting
Vrancea lies within the
Background
1940 was characterized by a very high seismic activity in Vrancea County.[10] In the first months of 1940 there were earthquakes of magnitude 4.5–5 that occurred at depths of 130–160 km. On 24 June, there was an earthquake of magnitude 5.5 at a depth of 115 km, scarcely felt in Wallachia and Moldavia.[10] There followed a period of relative calmness until 3 October, when an earthquake of magnitude 4.7–5.0 occurred at a depth of 150 km.[11]
On the evening of 21 October, there were many earthquakes, of which the most important took place around midnight at a depth of 100 km (M=4.5). On the morning of 22 October, at 08:37, a stronger earthquake occurred in Vrancea, of magnitude 6.5 and maximum intensity of VII on the
At the beginning of November there were, however, several earthquakes over 4.0 at about 140–150 km depth.[10] On 8 November, at about 14:00, less than two days before the catastrophic earthquake, there was another earthquake of magnitude 5.5 at a depth of 145 km, which was also felt in Bucharest.[11] A day later, in the afternoon of 9 November there were several weak and local earthquakes, around the town of Panciu, movements which passed almost unnoticed by the population (II–III degrees on the Mercalli intensity scale).[1]
Damage
External videos | |
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Cutremurul din 10 noiembrie 1940 on YouTube | |
Rumanian Earthquake on British Pathé |
The earthquake was felt in Bucharest, where 267 people were killed in the collapse of Carlton Bloc,[13][14] a 14-story reinforced concrete structure, the tallest building in the city at the time. After the earthquake, the basement was engulfed in flames which hampered the intervention of rescue teams.[12] Almost all ceilings of the concert halls collapsed. The American Embassy, the Post's hotel, the building of the Ministry of Agriculture and that of the General Staff were reported destroyed.[7] According to the documents of the National Firefighters Museum, 185 buildings completely collapsed in Bucharest, and another 412 were seriously damaged.[7] The Romanian General Association of Engineers undertook a detailed study of earthquake effects on reinforced concrete buildings.[15] The main conclusion was that the guidelines used for constructing reinforced concrete buildings, did not take into account possible seismic movement. Following the study, new rules were developed and applied to all postwar buildings.[citation needed]
The earthquake also caused significant morphological effects in the Earth's crust, especially in the sub-Carpathian regions of Wallachia and Moldavia; these effects manifested by landslides, fissures, settlements, formation of cracks in the surface layers of the crust, water spurting from cracks formed alongside rivers. According to recorded testimonies, luminous phenomena were observed, both in the epicentral area and in regions that are far away from the epicenter.[18]
Controversial death toll
Initial dispatches, reported casualties that were based on sketchy evidence, however on the second day official reports gave 267 killed and 476 injured all over the country until the evening of 10 November.[6] After the emergency response phase, Tillotson (1940) gave many details of the effects of the earthquake around the country and said that due to telecommunications still interrupted a conservative estimate would place the casualties at 400 killed and 800 severely injured in Romania, with more than 150 killed in Bucharest where 30 or more were still trapped under the debris of Carlton and more than one thousand badly damaged houses had to be evacuated. Time magazine (1940) said that about 98 bodies were extricated from under Carlton debris, while there were 357 killed and thousands injured in all the country.[6]
In 1982, the published memoirs of the vice-premier of Romania at the time of the event, indicated 593 killed and 1,271 injured in all the country, and in Bucharest 140 killed from the 226 occupants of Carlton block, with another 300 injured in the city.[6] The rest of the country's casualties were mostly in masonry buildings. Near the epicenter, the city of Focșani and the town of Panciu were heavily damaged and many people died. The cities of Galați and Ploiești were seriously affected, as was the region of Muntenia.[citation needed]
In a research conducted by the National Research and Development Institute URBAN-INCERC, the death toll stands at 593, while 1,271 were injured, with a further 78 killed in Moldova.[6]
Location | County | Dead | Injured | Remarks |
---|---|---|---|---|
Carlton Bloc | Bucharest | 140 | 86 | Assuming 226 occupants |
Various locations | Bucharest | Some | 300 | |
Panciu | Putna | 44 | 70–190 | Rădulescu (62 dead, 300 injured); Adevărul newspaper (42 dead, 70 injured); Ziarul de Iași (42 dead, 76 injured); Nature (23 dead, 71 serious injuries) |
Focșani | Putna | 12 | 115 | Nature (70% of buildings destroyed) |
Galați | Covurlui | 34 | 40–130 | Nature (36 dead, 130 injured) |
Various locations | Covurlui | 107 | Unknown | |
Bârlad | Tutova | 12 | 20 | |
Huși | Fălciu | Few | 20 | |
Vaslui | Vaslui | Few | Few | |
Târgul Berești | Covurlui | Few | 0 | |
Tecuci | Tecuci | 19 | 20 | |
Buzău | Buzău | 20 | Unknown | |
Râmnicu Sărat | Râmnicu Sărat | 0 | 5 | |
Pătârlagele | Buzău | Few | Unknown | |
Iași | Iași | 8 | 5 | |
Câmpina | Prahova | 6 | Unknown | |
Doftana prison | Prahova | 21 | 78 | 40 seriously injured |
Ploiești | Prahova | 7 Unknown | ||
Mărgineni prison | Prahova | 4 | Unknown | |
Valea Boului | Prahova | 4 | Unknown | |
Boldești |
Prahova | 3 | Unknown | |
Apostolache | Prahova | 3 | Unknown | |
Scăieni | Prahova | 2 | Unknown | |
Mălăești | Prahova | 2 | Unknown | |
Various locations | Prahova | 14 | 270 | In , etc. (1 death per location); 110 seriously and 160 lightly injured (excl. Doftana prison) |
Mizil | Buzău | Few | Few | |
Târgoviște | Dâmbovița | Few | Unknown | |
Craiova | Dolj | 5 | Few | |
Turnu Măgurele | Teleorman | 0 | Few | |
Tulcea | Tulcea | Few | Few | |
Constanța | Constanța | 0 | Few | |
Elsewhere in Romania | 94 | 360 |
See also
- 1802 Vrancea earthquake – 7.9 Mw, the strongest earthquake to ever hit Romania occurred on 26 October
- 1977 Vrancea earthquake
- 1986 Vrancea earthquake
- List of earthquakes in 1940
- List of earthquakes in Romania
- List of earthquakes in Vrancea County
References
- ^ a b Elena Marinescu (28 April 2009). "Mărmureanu, contrazis: marele seism din 1940 a fost o replică!". România Liberă (in Romanian).
- ^ doi:10.1016/j.tecto.2013.01.019, archived from the original(PDF) on 25 August 2015, retrieved 20 September 2014
- ^ a b c Diana Scarlat (6 October 2013). "Cele două axe ale cutremurelor din România – București-Sofia și Vrancea-Chișinău". Jurnalul Național (in Romanian). Archived from the original on 23 January 2015. Retrieved 20 September 2014.
- ^ a b A. Pantea; A. P. Constantin (9 November 2009). "Reevaluated macroseismic map of Vrancea (Romania). Earthquake occurred on November 10, 1940" (PDF). Horia Hulubei National Institute of Physics and Nuclear Engineering.
- ^ Petre Țurlea (March 2009). "Cutremurul din 1940". Historia (in Romanian). Archived from the original on 27 August 2015. Retrieved 20 September 2014.
- ^ a b c d e f g "Building Damage vs. Territorial Casualty Patterns during the Vrancea (Romania) Earthquakes of 1940 and 1977" (PDF). Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur. 2012.
- ^ a b c "POVEȘTI DE BUCUREȘTI. Cutremurul din noiembrie '40, cel mai puternic din secolul XX, a durat trei minute!". Adevărul (in Romanian). 5 March 2011.
- ^ "Cutremurul din 10 noiembrie 1940 – date sintetice". INFORISX (in Romanian). Archived from the original on 23 November 2010. Retrieved 20 September 2014.
- S2CID 53485994.
- ^ a b c Mihaela Lazarescu. "Seismic risk in Romania" (PDF). Bauhaus-Universität Weimar. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 November 2014. Retrieved 20 September 2014.
- ^ a b c d "Cutremurul vrâncean din 1940". Cutremur.net (in Romanian). Archived from the original on 27 August 2014. Retrieved 20 September 2014.
- ^ a b Romulus Cristea (10 November 2006). "Tragedia de la blocul "Carlton"". România Liberă (in Romanian). Archived from the original on 22 October 2010. Retrieved 19 February 2011.
- ^ I. Vlad; M. Vlad (October 2008). "Behavior of dwellings during strong earthquakes in Romania" (PDF). Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur.
- ^ Time.com
- ^ "Dezvăluiri de la cel mai PUTERNIC CUTREMUR din SECOLUL XX. Acum s-ar putea întâmpla la fel". Realitatea.net (in Romanian). 4 November 2013. Archived from the original on 10 November 2014. Retrieved 20 September 2014.
- ISBN 978-973-87581-0-0. Archived from the originalon 10 November 2014. Retrieved 20 September 2014.
- ^ Stepanenco, N (2011). "Câmpul macroseismic al cutremurului vrâncean din 10 noiembrie 1940" (PDF). Buletinul Institutului de Geologie și Seismologie al Academiei de Științe din Moldova. 1.
- ^ "Cutremurul din 1940 – 70 de ani". Cutremur.net (in Romanian). 9 November 2010. Archived from the original on 11 November 2014. Retrieved 20 September 2014.
External links
- Webpage devoted to the 1940 Vrancea earthquake, Mobile Earthquake Exhibition (MOBEE), INFP
- "Bucharest and earthquakes" digital guided tour, INFP
- Youtube Video presented by French television
- Britishpathe.com Archived 14 September 2011 at the Wayback Machine
- Remains of Block Carlton
- The International Seismological Centre has a bibliography and/or authoritative data for this event.