Background

Each year earthquakes directly impact 3.5 million people, killing 60,000 and causing billions of US dollars of damage. Additionally, earthquakes cause significant trauma, including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other mental disorders. Romania is especially vulnerable to earthquakes, as it sits near the Vrancea seismic zone. Despite experts predicting a major earthquake in the next 40 years, Romania remains underprepared for the next significant seismic event.

During the 20th century, as cities grew, seismic risk also grew. Before 1940, although Bucharest had survived many earthquakes, due to the lack of urbanization and tall structures, the city only suffered minor damages. This changed in 1940 when a magnitude 7.7 earthquake killed 1,000 people and injured 11,000 more. A second earthquake struck in 1977, killing over 1,500 people and inflicting over 2 billion US dollars in infrastructure damages.

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                                                        Carlton Block before collapse (left) and immediately after collapse

 

The communist regime built many of Bucharest's structures without thinking about earthquakes, resulting in tens of thousands of seismically unsafe buildings. Despite this, only 335 have been marked as high risk. Furthermore due to a lack of access to buildings and the high cost of adjustments, only 23 structures have even started seismic retrofitting. Furthermore, tens of thousands of communist-era vulnerable buildings have yet to be assessed.

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Additionally, out ream worked with Re:Rise. They are an NGO dedicated to reducing seismic risk in Romania, 

Check out their website: http://www.rerise.org/

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We address this goal through three main objectives:

      1.   Evaluate seismic risk assessment methods

      2.   Identify similar buildings across Bucharest

      3.   Educate the public on the prevalence of historically vulnerable buildings in Bucharest

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