A drill to simulate a high-magnitude earthquake scenario, rolled out by Romanian authorities, estimated a death toll of 4,830 deaths in its fourth day, with 8,000 wounded and approximately 50,000 left homeless.
Most insurers on the Romanian market are not prepared financially for a new earthquake like the one in Bucharest in 1977, mainly because of the lack of reinsurance, said Cristian Constantinescu, president of the National Union of Romanian Insurance and Reinsurance Companies (UNSAR).
More than half the buildings in Bucharest's historic center might collapse in an earthquake more powerful than seven degrees on the Richter scale, said Stefan Dumitrascu, chief architect of the city's 3rd sector, where 90% of the buildings are located.
Romania might be shaken in the upcoming period by small earthquakes of magnitudes below seven degrees, which are not at all dangerous, said Gheorghe Marmureanu, head of the Romanian Institute for Earth Physics, adding there will be no catastrophic earthquake in Romania at least until 2030.
Romania’s Embassy to Chile contacted a part of the Romanian nationals living in Chile, following an 8.8- magnitude earthquake that struck the South American country early Saturday, and no victims have been reported among Romanians so far, Romanian Foreign Ministry spokesman Lucian Rosenfeld told MEDIAFAX Saturday.
An earthquake with a 4.2 magnitude on the Richter scale occurred Tuesday morning at 04.15 local time, in central Romanian region Vrancea, and it was not felt in Bucharest, according to the Romanian National Institute for Research and Development in Earth Physics.
The names of five Romanians, including a six year old boy and a baby just a few months old, are on the list of victims of the powerful earthquake that shook Italy, which Italian civil protection authorities published Friday.
Five Romanian nationals were detained on Friday in the Italian province of L’Aquila (in the Abruzzo region) when they were caught attempting to rob a house abandoned due to the earthquake Monday, according to news website Tgcom.