Seismic Activity
Romanias Seismic Activity
Romania just experienced an earthquake on the 14th of February. The magnitude was 5.6 and it also affected the countries Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Hungary, Kosovo, Montenegro, Romania, Slovakia, and Serbia. Romania contains the Vrancea earthquake zone, which is the site of strong intermediate-depth seismicity, down to 220 km depth. Different from the scattered crustal seis- micity, most of the intermediate-depth earthquakes occur in a very limited seismogenic volume with about 30 × 70 km lateral extent and in a depth range from 70–180 km
Romania lies on the Vrancea fault that forms an ellipse stretching from the northeast to the southwest of the country. Proximity to the fault and poor soils make Bucharest Europe's highest seismic risk capital city and one of the 10 most vulnerable cities in the world. Over 35% of Romanians, or 65% of the urban population, is exposed to seismic hazards from the Vrancea fault.
Records show that large magnitude earthquakes occur on the Vrancea zone with regularity—Romania has more than 30 quakes a year with a magnitude of 3 or more —and a large magnitude earthquake is anticipated in the coming years. A repeat of the devastating 1977 earthquake, which measured 7.2 on the Richter scale and killed over 1,500 people, would result in US$ 7.45-17 billion in estimated losses, roughly equivalent to 20-45% of the Romanian GDP. Such a loss would be catastrophic for the Romanian economy.
References:
Comments
Post a Comment