August 30, 1986 Earthquake: Bucharest, Kishinev-Kagul, Romania
A magnitude 6.9 earthquake struck Bucharest, Kishinev-Kagul, Romania on August 30, 1986 at 21:28:35 UTC, 132 km below the surface. It killed 2 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
- August 30, 1986
- Time
- 21:28:35 UTC
- Place
- Bucharest, Kishinev-Kagul, Romania
- Magnitude
- 6.9 (Ms)
- Focal depth
- 132 km (82 mi)
- Intensity
- 8 on the Modified Mercalli scale
- Tsunami
- None recorded
- Epicenter
- 45.547° N, 26.316° E
- Country
- Romania
The toll
- Deaths
- 2
- Injuries
- 558
- Damage
- $730 million
- Houses damaged
- 55,000
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.
Damage (VIII) in the Focsani-Birlad area, including the collapse of a church. Felt (VII) at Bucharest. Two people killed, 558 injured, about 55,000 homes damaged, leaving more than 12,500 people homeless in the Kishinev-Kagul area, USSR. Felt (VII) in northern Bulgaria; (V) in the Skopje area, Yugoslavia; (IV) at Simferopol and Kiev, USSR and Belgrade, Yugoslavia; (III) at Moscow, USSR and Titograd, Yugoslavia. Felt throughout central and eastern Hungary. Also felt in Greece, Turkey, southern Italy and eastern Poland. Depth from broadband displacement seismograms. (reference #1053)
$730 million damage, 45,000 homes damaged. (reference #1250)
Other significant earthquakes nearby
Within 200 km, the deadliest first.
- March 4, 1977, Bucharest, Romania
- November 10, 1940, Romania
- January 23, 1838, Carpathian Fold,vrancea, Romania
- May 30, 1990, Bucharest, Braila, Brasov, Romania
- November 24, 1516, Romania
- October 26, 1802, Carpathian Fold,vrancea, Romania
- November 17, 1821, Romania, Moldova
- October 27, 2004, Northern, Bucharest, Braila, Bulgaria, Romania
- May 31, 1990, Kishinev, Cis, Romania
- November 26, 1829, Bucharest, Romania
More
Significant earthquakes of 1986The 1900sEvery quake the USGS located in 1986Recent 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 5107.