<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
A 7.4-degree earthquake on the Richer scale occurred
\nin eastern Romania’s Vrancea seismic area on March 4, 1977, at 21:21 hrs local
\ntime, at a depth of 94 kilometres. The seismic movement was strongly felt
\nacross the country, mainly in the south and east. The tremor was also felt in neighbouring
\ncountries, Serbia, Bulgaria and Hungary, but also in other countries in central and
\nsouthern Europe, as well as Russia, in an area north of Sankt Petersburg.<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
In the ’77 quake<\/em>, just
<\/p>\n In Romania’s capital city, most
<\/p>\n The devastating earthquakes that
<\/p>\n Here is architect \u015etefan Dumitra\u015fcu, speaking about the present-day situation in Bucharest.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n When I held
<\/p>\n Mostly in the capital city’s
<\/p>\n We are, however,
<\/p>\n The prefect of the Capital
<\/p>\n …The
<\/p>\n The consolidation of the
<\/p>\n Of course we
<\/p>\n So, as we speak, how would
<\/p>\n However, the situation is far
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Fatality, danger and awareness<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":109,"featured_media":131525,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[42997],"tags":[31794,43919,40544,29079,35795],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-144349","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-society-today","tag-assessment","tag-carelessness","tag-consolidation","tag-earthquake","tag-risk"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
\nas Romanians label it when they reminisce the catastrophe, from memories or by
\nhearsay, of the country’s 40 counties, 23 were seriously hit. The tremor
\nclaimed the lives of 1,578 people. Over 11, 300 people were injured, of whom
\n1,424 eventually lost their lives, that is 90% of the total number of the
\ndeceased. Almost 7,600 people were injured in Bucharest alone! Back then, icons
\nof Romanian cultural and artistic life were among the dead: actor Toma Caragiu,
\ntelevision director Alexandru Boc\u0103ne\u021b, vocalist Doina Badea, literary historian
\nMihai Gafi\u021ba and prose writer Alexandru Ivasiuc.<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\nof the deaths occurred in the wake of the total or partial collapse of more
\nthan 30 buildings, medium or high-level block of flats, some of them iconic for
\nthe city’s architecture. Also, a hotel and a wing of the Chemistry Faculty
\ncollapsed, as well as the Transport Ministry’s IT Centre. The Bucharest West thermal
\npower plant was a whisker away from exploding, because a ceiling collapsed and a
\nfire broke out. Many other buildings in Bucharest were severely or moderately
\nhit. <\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\nhit Turkey and Syria in early February and their dismal aftermath, but also the
\ntremor that hit Romania in early March 1977 prompted the Romanians to reach the
\nworrying conclusion that no lesson has been learned as regards the impending
\nnecessity to consolidate the buildings assessed according to various degrees of
\nseismic risk! <\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\nthe position of chief architect at the Municipality, for two and a half years,
\nthese buildings were identified and more than 180 of them had been going through
\na technical expertise so that solution could be found, for their safeguarding
\nor consolidation. Moreover, two and a half years ago, through the Municipal Administration
\nof the Seismic Risk Consolidation Works Administration, as part of the General
\nCouncil in Bucharest municipal city there were 81 construction sites, especially
\ncreated for such works. Unfortunately, because of changes in administration and
\nbecause of a different mindset, as we speak, we have zero consolidation
\nbuilding sites. <\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\ncentral area, a great number of old constructions, built before 1977, are very
\nfragile, because decades have passed and no renovation works have carried
\nwhatsoever, let alone anti-seismic consolidation. That is why, according to
\nStefan Dumitra\u015fcu, we’re running out of time. <\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\nin the eleventh hour, maybe in the twelfth hour, if we want to make sense of
\nwhat we must do. A consolidation operation cannot be completed overnight, it is
\na building site that lasts for a year, a year and a half, for a building
\nerected in 1940, let’s say, an eight or ten-story building located on the
\nMagheru Boulevard or Voctoria Road, two of the capital city’s most significant
\nthoroughfares. As I was saying, on one hand, we can educate the people, in a bid
\nto find the right alternative solutions for regrouping, helping and intervening,
\nin the case of an earthquake. Everybody is unanimous in admitting that a major
\ntremor in the Capital city will occur, and it will occur, that’s for sure, and
\nit’s out of the question, with us, like, on a fine spring afternoon, going out
\nin the park and waiting for the army to show up, carrying products from the
\nState reserve and giving us a bottle of water each, and a can of meat. No way!
\nSomething like that must be very seriously organized and we also need to have a
\ncompetent management at the Municipality, so that consolidation works can be
\nresumed as soon as possible.<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\ncity, Toni Grebl\u0103, also cautioned that it was not the lack of funding that hindered
\nthe buildings anti-seismic rehabilitation, but <\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\ncarelessness of some of the administration officials who do not have a proper
\npreparation of the projects enabling the start of the buildings’ rehabilitation
\nand their anti-seismic consolidation. In the last 15 years, no municipal city
\ncan complain, and at that, especially Bucharest municipal city, that they did
\nnot have money earmarked for the rehabilitation of buildings. Year after year,
\nfunds provided by the Development Ministry remain unspent, and that, because we
\nare unable to work in order to develop projects for the anti-seismic
\nconsolidation, and implement them.<\/p>\n
\nbuildings assessed for seismic risk can be fully financed from the budget but
\nalso through the Recovery and Resilience Plan for Romania, after registration is
\nmade for a dedicated digital platform. Waiting for their buildings to be
\nconsolidated, could the Romanians know, at least, what the country’s safest
\ncities are, in the case of a strong earthquake? Attempting an answer to the
\nquestion is a seismologist with the National Research-Development Institute for
\nEarth Physics, Mihail Diaconescu.<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\ncan know that, but I’m not so sure how sound that would be. What are we going
\nto do, migrate to those cities, all of us, and depopulate part of the country? \u02ba
\nThe thing is, construction and consolidation works should be carried, for all
\nthat has been affected in time. The moment we set about building something, not
\nus, as natural persons, but as the State, as construction companies, we need to
\ncomply with the construction code. If that construction code is complied with, the
\ndanger does not exist anymore, that of the house crumbling on us. <\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\nBucharest look like, in the case of a major earthquake? Far worse than 46 years
\nago, possibly. According to data provided by the Development Ministry, in
\nRomania, there are 2,687 buildings assessed according to various degrees of
\nseismic risk. Most of them a rein Bucharest, of which several hundred are 1st
\nand 2nd-degree buildings according to their seismic risk potential. <\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\nworse. According to a survey carried by the Bucharest Municipal City’s
\nEmergency Situations Committee, should an earthquake happen, having the same
\nintensity as that in 1977, in Bucharest, 23,000 buildings could suffer serious
\ndamage. Of those, 1,000 could collapse, partially or totally. (EN)<\/p>\n