March 31, 1901 Earthquake: Balchik, Bulgaria
A magnitude 7.2 earthquake struck Balchik, Bulgaria on March 31, 1901 at 07:12 UTC. It killed 4 people.
Map
Where it struck, with the other significant earthquakes within 200 km. Circles are sized and colored by magnitude; select one for its page.
The earthquake
- Date
- March 31, 1901
- Time
- 07:12 UTC
- Place
- Balchik, Bulgaria
- Magnitude
- 7.2 (Ms)
- Intensity
- 10 on the Modified Mercalli scale
- Tsunami
- Yes: the tsunami it caused
- Epicenter
- 43.400° N, 28.500° E
- Country
- Bulgaria
The toll
- Deaths
- 4
- Injuries
- 50
- Damage
- Severe (about $5 to $25 million)
- Houses destroyed
- 1,200
Where the literature gives no number, NCEI records a description on a scale of 1 to 4, printed here in its words. Damage is in millions of US dollars of the year of the event, not adjusted for inflation.
What the record says
NCEI’s account, from the sources it cites.
March 31, 1901, 07:12 UTC, 43.4 N, 28.5 E, depth 60 km, magnitude 6.7 MS, intensity X. (reference #1004)
March 31, 1901, Balchik, M, = 6.4, I = VIII. This earthquake had an offshore epicentre in the Black Sea near Varna. Maximum damage was sustained by a small number of villages situated on the alluvial low-lands along the coast between Balchik, Kavarna, Blatnitsa and Limanu. Slumping of the coast destroyed many landing-places and coastal settlements including the lighthouse at Kaliakra. Largescale
landslides along the coast continued to develop for almost two weeks after the earthquake, disrupting communications and causing additional damage. The shock was felt throughout Bulgaria, southeast Romania, eastern Serbia and northwest Anatolia, causing great panic in Istanbul and on the Asiatic coast of the Bosphorus and the Marmara. Longperiod effects lasting about a minute were reported
from the Danube valley, from Szeged in Hungary, and from Odessa. The shock was perceptible in Saloniki, in Macedonia, in Dorohoi in Romania, and throughout the province of Sivas. Aftershocks continued until the end of July. The earthquake killed 4 people and injured 50; 1200 houses were destroyed. (reference #1215)
Other significant earthquakes nearby
Within 200 km, the deadliest first.
More
Significant earthquakes of 1901The 1900sEvery quake the USGS located in 1901Recent earthquakes near hereThis day in weather history
Sources
Significant earthquakes from NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information, Global Historical Hazard Database, cited as NCEI/WDS, doi:10.7289/V5PN93H7. Public domain. Read 2026-09-24. NCEI earthquake 9778.