1986 Vrancea earthquake
Focșani Bucharest | |
| UTC time | 1986-08-30 21:28:55 |
|---|---|
| ISC event | 489699 |
| USGS-ANSS | ComCat |
| Local date | 31 August 1986 |
| Local time | 00:28:55 (EET) |
| Magnitude | 6.5 Mw(NIEP) 7.2 Mw(USGS) |
| Depth | 131 km (81 mi) |
| Epicenter | 45°30′N 26°30′E / 45.500°N 26.500°E |
| Total damage | 55,000 homes damaged |
| Max. intensity | MMI VIII (Severe) |
| Landslides | Yes |
| Foreshocks | 5.3 Mw (16 August 1986) |
| Aftershocks | 77 |
| Casualties | 2 deaths, 558 injuries (official) Over 150 deaths (unofficial) |
Striking central Romania on August 30 at 21:28 UTC, the 1986 Vrancea earthquake killed more than 150 people, injured over 500, and damaged over 50,000 homes. The second largest earthquake in the area since the modernization of earthquake monitoring devices, it was felt north to Poland and south to Italy and Greece. The death toll makes it the second deadliest earthquake to occur in 1986 worldwide, after major seism of San Salvador that took the lives of almost 1,500 people.
One local news facility listed that the earthquake measured 6.5 on the Richter scale, and the USGS listed its seismic moments as 5.6 and 7.9. A research paper of V. I. Ulomov cited this earthquake with magnitude Mw 7.1. Its epicenter was somewhere in the Vrancea Mountains.
The focal mechanism of the earthquake was described as "moderately well controlled", suggesting reverse faulting with some strike-slip motion.