An earthquake with a magnitude of 5.4 occurred on Monday at 17:40 in the Vrancea-Buzău area, Romania.
The magnitude has been revised several times, from 5.5, to 5.2, then to 5.4. It is nevertheless the strongest earthquake in Romania this year.
The National Institute of Earth Physics (INFP) has transmitted several sets of data that have been revised, including information regarding the depth at which the earthquake occurred: 152, then 140, then 126 km.
"The earthquake occurred 56km NW of Buzau, 58km SE of Sfantu-Gheorghe, 59km E of Brasov, 67km W of Focsani, 69km N of Ploiesti, 97km NE of Targoviste," adds INFP.
The earthquake was strongly felt in Bucharest, Iasi, Craiova, Constanta, but also in Bulgaria, Ukraine, and Moldova.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs announced that firefighters are conducting field surveys to identify possible material damage.
So far, no calls to 112 have been received to report issues.
In Bucharest, the earthquake was felt in two phases, horizontally. People from all over the country, from Constanta to Craiova and from Iasi to Brasov or Hunedoara, share on social media how they felt the seismic movement. The earthquake was also felt in Galați County, the most severely affected by the natural disaster.
The most recent earthquake in Romania, also with a magnitude of 5.2, occurred on June 6, 2023, in Arad County. At that time, hundreds of houses were damaged in Ghioroc commune, including public buildings such as the local hospital. The earthquake was followed by 13 aftershocks.