Magnitude and depth

On Monday, 19 October 2026, at 11:52 Romanian time, an earthquake struck the Vrancea seismic zone, according to the Institute for Earth Physics (INFP). The institute gave its magnitude as 4.8 and its depth as 76.5 kilometres. Early figures differed. The INFP's automatic alert first indicated a magnitude of 5.1 at a depth of about 149 kilometres, while a Google earthquake alert put the magnitude at 4.9 and located the epicentre 13 kilometres from Râmnicu Sărat. One Mediafax report cited a preliminary 5.1 Mw, and Mediafax's later updates gave 4.9. Digi24, citing the INFP, placed the quake 46 kilometres from Brașov, 53 kilometres from Sfântu Gheorghe, 56 kilometres from Ploiești and 64 kilometres from Buzău. The same outlet described it as the strongest quake in the Vrancea zone this year, after a magnitude 4.5 event on 26 February.

INFP automatic alert (first)5.1

Google earthquake alert4.9

INFP updated estimate4.8

INFP automatic alert (first)

5.1 magnitude

Google earthquake alert

4.9 magnitude

INFP updated estimate

4.8 magnitude

Data from the article text

Felt from Bucharest to Ukraine

The tremor was felt in several parts of Romania, including Bucharest and Galați, and also in Moldova and Ukraine. The INFP recorded a macroseismic intensity of IV, and the effects varied from one locality to another. Its early alert listed Romania, Moldova and Ukraine as potentially affected. In Bucharest, telephone lines dropped for a short time, and Mediafax reported that phones could not connect to the network and calls could not be made. Adevărul reported that the INFP website could not be accessed shortly after the quake, possibly because of the number of people checking details.

Emergency checks and advice

The Bucharest-Ilfov emergency inspectorate sent a vehicle to reconnoitre the city's old centre to identify possible consequences, and it said no calls had been logged to the 112 emergency number. The head of the Department for Emergency Situations, Raed Arafat, said teams were checking in several affected counties, including Buzău and Vrancea. He described the absence of 112 calls as a very positive sign that the quake had caused no effects at that stage.

“At this moment we have no information that any structures were affected.”

Arafat urged people to stay calm and warned them against using the stairwell. He told them to take cover under a beam if they knew where one was, and to protect themselves from falling objects.

“The stairwell is the most vulnerable area, do not use the lift, shut off the gas.”

Arafat also named Ro-Alert as the system authorities can use to communicate with the population.

Aftershock outlook

Seismologist Mihai Diaconescu told Antena 3 CNN that aftershocks could follow, probably around magnitude 3 and perhaps slightly above, and that they would not be significant in intensity. He said the Vrancea zone regularly produces quakes of this size, and that the annual average of magnitude 4.8 quakes over the past 20 years is fairly high.

“Un cutremur de 4,8 nu e neobișnuit pentru zona Vrancea.”

Diaconescu advised people not to panic, not to run down the stairs, and to sit beneath a beam or next to a wardrobe. Adevărul noted that the magnitude, depth and epicentre were still to be checked against official INFP data.