Reviewed by USGSRomania112y ago
M6.4 earthquake 1 km SE of Bruiu, Romania
Wednesday, January 26, 1916, 07:38:03 UTC · 45.861°N, 24.712°E
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck 1 km SE of Bruiu, Romania on Wednesday, January 26, 1916, 07:38:03 UTC, at a depth of 15.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M6.6 on October 6, 1908.
- Magnitude
- 6.4
- Strong · mw
- Depth
- 15 km
- Shallow
- Felt reports
- 0
- Did You Feel It?
- Est. shaking
- —
- No ShakeMap
- PAGER alert
- None
- Not issued
- Tsunami
- No flag
- USGS feed
Outlined circle: this earthquake
In context
How big was it, and why here?
Energy released
52 kilotons of TNT
That is about 3 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 110 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
594 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Anatolian and Eurasian plates. Earthquakes this far from a boundary happen on faults inside a plate, often less frequently but sometimes strongly.
Depth: shallow
15 km
Shallow earthquakes (under 70 km) produce the strongest surface shaking for their size, so they are the ones most likely to cause damage near the epicenter.
Did You Feel It?
Where it was felt
No “Did You Feel It?” reports have been published for this event yet. If you felt it, you can add your report on the USGS website.
I felt it — report to USGS ↗USGS PAGER estimate
Who was exposed to shaking
USGS publishes PAGER impact estimates for significant earthquakes, usually within an hour. No PAGER estimate is available for this event.
After the main event
Aftershocks within 100 km
USGS has not published any M2.5+ earthquake within 100 km in the 30 days after this event.
Regional history
Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km
USGS lists 2 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 6 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 42 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1838M6.9
Carpathian Fold,Vrancea
23 Jan 1838 · 147 km away · intensity VIII
42 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1834M6.8
Pishkol'T, Erendreyd, Dengeleg
15 Oct 1834 · 267 km away · intensity VIII
Severe damage ($5–24M)
- 1829
Bucharest
26 Nov 1829 · 214 km away · intensity X
Severe damage ($5–24M)
- 1802M7.4
Carpathian Fold,Vrancea
26 Oct 1802 · 147 km away · intensity X
Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1821M6.7
Romania; Moldova
17 Nov 1821 · 147 km away · intensity VIII
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1913M6.8
Tirnovo
14 Jun 1913 · 270 km away · intensity XI
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.