The earthquake of 4 March 1977 incurred one of the heaviest earthquake-related death tolls of the 1970s around the world. It caused the loss of 1,578 lives and injured an additional 11,221, with 90% of the fatalities being in the capital city
Bucharest. The reported damage included 32,897 collapsed or demolished dwellings, 34,582 homeless families, 763 industrial units affected and many other damage in all sectors of the economy. Out of the 33 multi-story buildings that collapsed, 28 were built between 1920 and 1940, a period when
earthquake-resistant design was unknown. Two buildings which collapsed were built in the communist era: a building from the Lizeanu housing complex (built in 1962) had a small section of it collapse during the earthquake because a support column was cut at one of the end sections of the building (ground floor, at a store), leading to that section eventually being demolished and mostly never rebuilt, and an apartment block in
Militari named OD16 and built around 1972–1975 fully collapsed due to construction defects (at the time sub-standard concrete had been found used in the said building, and air pockets were formed in the concrete during construction, and even a boot was found in the concrete). Three public buildings, the Ministry of Metallurgy, the Faculty of Chemistry, and the Computer Center also collapsed, but were not heavily staffed at the time of the earthquake. On 5 March, the first toll of the disaster indicated 508 fatalities and 2,600 injuries. A final toll showed that 90% of the victims were from Bucharest: 1,424 deaths and 7,598 injuries. No catastrophic fires occurred, but electrical power was lost in large areas of the city for about a day. Nine of 35 hospitals were evacuated.
Other Romanian cities In the cities of
Focșani and
Buzău, unreinforced masonry walls in low-rise construction collapsed partially or totally, and there were signs of movement between structural elements and adjacent masonry in-fill walls in recently constructed buildings. The city of
Zimnicea was reported to be in ruins: 175 houses collapsed, while 523 sustained serious damage, 4,000 people were displaced, and there were hundreds of victims. In
Craiova, more than 550 buildings were severely damaged, among them the Museum of Art, the Oltenia Museum, the university and the County Library. Initial estimates indicate a total of 30 dead and 300 wounded. In
Ploiești around 200 homes were destroyed, and a further 2,000 were seriously damaged; the situation was also serious in
Buzău County, where about 1,900 buildings were affected.
Bulgaria The earthquake of 4 March heavily impacted Bulgaria. The city of
Svishtov was the most affected. Here, three blocks of flats collapsed, killing up to 120 people, among them 27 children. Many other buildings were damaged, including the
Church of the Holy Trinity. In Ruse, the tremors were strong but there was little damage; only one person perished, hit by a huge architectural ornament that fell down from a nearby building.
Soviet Moldova According to official data, 2,765 buildings were destroyed in the
Moldavian SSR, while 20,763 buildings suffered significant damage.
Spatial distribution of human casualties == Aftershocks ==