24 August 2025
(PHOTO: Main Center for Special Control)
An average earthquake with a magnitude of 4.2 occurred on August 24 at 7:15 a.m. (local time in Romania) in the Vrancea seismic zone and was felt in Odesa region.
This was reported by the National Institute for Research and Development in Earth Physics (INCDFP) from Romania.
The earthquake occurred at a depth of 107.7 kilometers near the following cities: 36 kilometers west of Focsan, 64 kilometers north of Buzau, 74 kilometers east of Sfiantu-Gheorghe, 86 kilometers east of Brasov, 92 kilometers southwest of Bârlad, 94 kilometers south of Baqueu.
The Vrancea seismic zone is one of the most active and dangerous seismic zones in Europe. It is located in the Carpathian Mountains, in the east of Romania, mainly within the Vranca County, which gave this geological area its name. Vranca is capable of generating strong earthquakes with a magnitude of more than 7. Due to its great depth, tremors are often felt over large areas: in Romania itself, Moldova, Bulgaria, and Ukraine, particularly in Odesa region.
The last earthquake in this area occurred on June 23. Then the magnitude reached four. That earthquake occurred at a depth of 125.3 kilometers. And on the night of May 29, residents of Odesa region could also feel tremors caused by earthquakes in the Vrancea seismic zone in Romania. Two underground tremors with magnitudes of 3 and 3.4 on the Richter scale occurred. The first earthquake was recorded at 3:08 a.m. at a depth of more than 125 km, and the second at 3:45 a.m. at a depth of more than 144 km in Buzau County. The 4.2 magnitude tremors that occurred in Romania could be felt by residents of Izmail district in Odesa region after midnight on May 16 and 17.
One of the strongest earthquakes in the Vrancea zone occurred on March 4, 1977, had a magnitude of 7.4 and killed more than 1.5 thousand people in Romania.
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