Bacău

Earthquakes near Bacău through history

From 1900 to October 19, 2026, USGS recorded 9 earthquakes of magnitude 6 or more within 100 km of Bacău, or 200 km for magnitude 7 and above. 4 of them reached magnitude 7 or more; the strongest was a magnitude 7.7 on November 10, 1940.

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The last 30 days · as of

USGS recorded no earthquake of magnitude 4.5 or more within 100 km of Bacău in the last 30 days.

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What the record holds

The deadliest was not the strongest: a magnitude 7.5 on March 4, 1977 (2 km N of Spulber, Romania), for which NOAA records 1,641 deaths. NOAA’s list of significant earthquakes has 10 here, back to 1516. NOAA records deaths in 5 of the events here, 2,699 in all. The latest on NOAA’s list is a magnitude 5.8 on October 27, 2004 (Bucharest, Braila; Bulgaria: Northern). NOAA’s record here begins on November 24, 1516 with an earthquake. It grows thinner going back: 6 of the 10 significant earthquakes NOAA lists here are from 1927 on. NOAA lists 3 tsunamis that began within 100 km of Bacău. The highest of them reached 0.1 m, on November 17, 1821.

The events

  • October 27, 2004Earthquake · M 5.8Bucharest, Braila; Bulgaria: NorthernNOAA NCEI
  • March 4, 1977Earthquake · M 7.52 km N of Spulber, Romania · 1,641 deaths (NOAA)USGS · NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
  • November 10, 1940Earthquake · M 7.71,000 deaths (NOAA)USGS · NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
  • November 17, 1821Tsunami · 0.1 m highBlack SeaNOAA NCEI
  • November 24, 1516EarthquakeNOAA NCEI

Good to know

  • An event counts for Bacău when it began within 100 km of its centre, or 200 km for an earthquake of magnitude 7 or more. Damage can reach further.
  • USGS counts here start at magnitude 6: the catalogue’s smaller quakes thin out going back, where few instruments listened.
  • NOAA lists significant events only: earthquakes that killed, did about $1 million of damage, reached magnitude 7.5 or intensity X, or raised a tsunami, and eruptions and tsunamis by like measures. Magnitudes before 1900 are its estimates from written accounts.
  • Deaths are NOAA’s total for each event, wherever people died, its tsunami and fires included. A tsunami counts the dead its runup records give for this place: NOAA’s total for a tsunami includes its source quake’s.
  • A tsunami from elsewhere counts where one of its runups killed or rose a metre or more.
  • Counted to October 19, 2026, as is the map. The last 30 days ask USGS again.

How the layers work, where their data comes from and what they can’t tell you: Earthquakes, live, The world through history

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