Earthquake with a magnitude of 5.4 in Romania, felt throughout the country

By Romania Journal Last updated Sep 16, 2024

Get real time updates directly on you device, subscribe now.

An earthquake with a magnitude of 5.4 occurred on Monday afternoon in the Vrancea seismic zone, at 17:40. The earthquake was felt across the country.

Initially, the INCDFP had announced that the earthquake had a magnitude of 5.5.

“On 16.09.2024, 17:40:21 (Romanian time), a significant earthquake occurred in the seismic zone of Vrancea, Buzău, with a magnitude of ML 5.2, at a depth of 140 km”, announces the National Research and Development Institute for Earth Physics.

Initially, the INCDFP had announced that the earthquake had a magnitude of 5.5. “On 16.09.2024, 17:40:21 (Romanian time), a significant earthquake occurred in the seismic zone of Vrancea, Buzău, with a magnitude of ML 5.2, at a depth of 140 km”, announces the National Research and Development Institute for Earth Physics.

The earthquake that occurred on Monday afternoon, with a magnitude of 5.4, is part of the normal seismic activity of the Vrancea area, where such an earthquake can occur every two years, Constantin Ionescu, the director, said for Agerpres general of the National Research – Development Institute for Earth Physics (INFP).

“The earthquake had a magnitude of 5.4 and the intensity in the epicenter of W. It occurred at a depth of 126 kilometers, with 100 stations included in the localization. This was also felt in Bucharest, it was much more strongly felt in Moldova, in Chisinau. The earthquake is part of the normal seismic activity of the Vrancea area, where at least once every two years there is an earthquake with a magnitude above 5. We had a bigger one in 2018, of 5.8, one of 5.4 in 2022. For now there is no reply. If there were replicas, they should have been produced by now,” said Ionescu.

Why no Ro-Alert message is issued during earthquakes

The head of the Department for Emergency Situations (DSU), Raed Arafat, said, on Monday, on Digi24, that no Ro-Alert messages will be given for earthquakes until a system that can announce this with a sufficiently large period of time before.

“We’re not going to put out a Ro-Alert message before an earthquake until we have an adequate time frame where people actually have time to take refuge somewhere safe. But at this moment it is not possible. You have a few seconds before, give the message and rather we induce panic”, said Arafat.

He explained that earthquake alerts would be useful, for example, for gas interruptions, electricity interruptions, but the population should also be educated in this regard and act accordingly.

“Besides, there is the risk of receiving the message that an earthquake is coming after the earthquake has started, there is the risk of receiving the message one or two seconds before – all this needs to be analyzed, I don’t really know countries that give such messages, unless the interval between the sensor and the place where the effect appears, it is long, as it happens in Mexico”, Arafat also said.

He added that there are and will be many more discussions on this topic until a solution and a unified approach standard is found worldwide.

DONATE: Support our work

In an ever changing and challenging world, the media is constantly struggling to resist. Romania Journal makes no exception. We’ve been informing you, our readers, for almost 10 years, as extensively as we can, but, as we reject any state funding and private advertising is scarce, we need your help to keep on going.
So, if you enjoy our work, you can contribute to endorse the Romania Journal team. Any amount is welcome, no strings attached. Choose to join with one of the following options:

Donate with PayPal

Donate by Bank Wire

Black Zonure SRL
UniCredit Bank. Swift: BACXROBU
RON: RO84 BACX 0000 0022 3589 1000
EURO: RO57 BACX 0000 0022 3589 1001
USD: RO30 BACX 0000 0022 3589 1002