Colegiul Național ”Ecaterina Teodoroiu” ”1940 Earthquake ” 1 TEAM: “Tarotmagikxoxo” 1. Contents Page 3: Earthquakes in Romania…………… Page 4: 1940 Earthquake(introduction) Page 5: Effects…………………………………………. Page 6: Our opinions…………………..…………….. Page 7: BeSafe!/ Bibliography..…………...…. 2. 2 \ (What is an earthquake? About earthquakes) An earthquake is a fast and violent shaking in the tectonic plates of the Earth, often caused by volcanic activity because of changes or movements of the crust of the Earth. Sudden motion in the crust of the earth leads to huge amounts of energy being released into fractures or defects that cause the Earth to shake. Volcanic-generated earthquakes are considered a form of endogenous processes. Earthquakes are a natural phenomenon, like rain or snow. It affects every part of the Earth and, depending on the effects that they produce, they may be small and unimportant, or they may be catastrophic. The research involved in the study of seismic conditions is called seismology. “Seismo” means shaking in greek. Earthquakes are investigated by scientists named seismologists. Earthquake research reveals that the Earth is not static. The earth's cover is divided into big sections (tectonic plates). These plates are continuously moving, but sluggish. As a consequence, the interaction between them induces a buildup of voltage. This stress is abruptly released, leading to earthquakes from time to time. After the earthquake, released energy is transmitted by seismic waves across the Earth. The first consistent theories of earthquakes were recently formulated. Romania has great seismic potential, an aspect stressed by seismic risk studies and the P100-1 seismic design code provisions. In the seismic zone of Vrancea, Romania at 60-180 km deep, essentially whenever an earthquake with a magnitude greater than 7 can occur. 3 3. 1940 Vrancea Earthquake This is the biggest earthquake in the Vrancea region since 1802. Moment of magnitude (Mw): 7.7 Depth: 150 km Earthquake: Vrancea Present time: 03:39 As can be shown in the figure below, the earthquake was followed by other smaller earthquakes in 1940. The first one with Mw 6.5 on 22 October 1940 resulted in cracked walls and smashed windows. Numerous remarks were applied to the key shock. As can be observed, a slightly different seismic activity followed the earthquake on 4 March 1977. It had devastating effects in the south and center of Moldova but in Muntenia as well. It was felt in Russia, Greece, Turkey and even France. A high seismic activity in Vrancea characterized 1940. Earthquakes of magnitude 4.5–5 occurred at depths of 130–160 km during the first months of 1940. The earthquake in Wallachia and Moldova was of magnitude 5.5 on 24 June at a depth of 115 km. The earthquake was 4.7 – 5.0 in size, at a depth of 150 km, which until the 3rd of October was relatively calm. There were a number of earthquakes at night on 21 October, the most important of them being at a 100 km deep depth (Mw=4.5) around midnight. In Vrancea, on a magnitude of 6.5 and maximum of 7 intensity, at 08:37, on the morning of 22 October, a stronger terrible earthquake occurred at an intensity scale of 122-125 km, particularly in Wallachia and Moldova. This quake was very strong. There have been only some minor damages, such as wall cracks and broken windows, but no casualties. There were no immediate aftershocks to this earthquake. However, several 4.0 earthquakes at about 140–150 kilometers deep were observed in early November. Another earthquake at a depth of 145 km was perceived in Bucharest on 8 November, less than two days before the catastrophic earthquake. One day later on the evening of 9 November several local weak earthquakes were taking place around the town of Panciu. 4 4. 1940 Vrancea Earthquake Effects In particular, in the Subcarpathian regions of Muntenia and Moldova this earthquake also caused significant morphological effects on the earth's crust. These effects manifested landslides, cracks and submergements, creating cracks on the bark surface layers and water rushing from cracks which developed parallel to river banks. There is a lack of clarity in the overall number of casualties (with information censorship in the war, which leads to this), but it was estimated about 4,000 were injured or died. The Romanian Vice-memoirs President's of the time published in 1982 state the number of 593 people killed and 1271 injured in Bucharest, 140 of whom were dead and 300 injured in the region. The following map shows how victims are spread throughout the territory. Panciu was 90-95% devastated after the earthquake (of 371 walled buildings, only 5 remained, along with 57 outlying bars or spinning houses) and towns such as Focsani, Marasesti, Tecuci and Galati have been badly damaged. In Bucharest, 140 people were killed and many buildings collapsed. 78 people died in Chisinau and 2795 buildings were affected by the earthquake (172 destroyed). 5 5. Our opinions We believe that, according to the number of victims and the traces it left, the earthquake of 1940 was a devastating one that destroyed lives and left its mark on the souls of many people. The intensity it had demolished a lot of buildings, built with a lot of work by innocent people. We have not felt an earthquake so far, but depending on the intenisty, we can imagine the power it can have. The great-grandmother of one of us told her about the experience she had at that terrifying moment. ”People were screaming in fear, hurt, or panicked because they couldn’t figure out how to evacuate the buildings as quickly as possible. The frightened children held their parents arms and wanted everything to end well with them.” The emotion in great-grandmother’s eyes could be seen as if she could relive the moment of the earthquake. 6 6. SITES: https://www.chegg.com/learn/physics/introduction-to-physics/earthquake- waves?fbclid=IwAR3fkgkTM4A-8Vfy6ne9mkF63o1uoJw7z5xslA03UJ7TscHLuvJFxaLjh9Y http://www.roeduseis.ro/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Despre_cutremur- primar.pdf?fbclid=IwAR15XPwzDv53c9jJQZdtInrl2MfTULE-Ou2ahjmsuKt8j1812noZdi5hXvw https://www.arcgis.com/apps/Cascade/index.html?appid=b49bc333fd1b4755ae887f00db578137&f bclid=IwAR3DAfEpAui7R4Wrl8b7GKHC1OkUX6PYKS6bCNBHhn5iOuhPKAaJ3C7U7DU https://www.agerpres.ro/flux-documentare/2015/11/10/documentar-75-de-ani-de-la-cutremurul- din-1940-08-07-39?fbclid=IwAR1hqL_S6C-gqwb2MzwSRnjAS6oK_XAdsRpmpmfr- fPdy3ChWVKNS_lioLU https://www.dkiservices.com/blog/2019/10/29/the-fundamentals-of-earthquake-safety/ https://www.sciencelearn.org.nz/ 7 7. .