Country profile · USGS ComCat
Earthquakes in Romania
Romania has catalogued 183 M4+ earthquakes since 2005 (ranked 64th of 187 countries), with the strongest reaching magnitude M7.7.
Romania ranks 64th of 187 countries by catalogued seismic activity - a country with limited but non-zero seismic activity, averaging about 9 M4+ events a year alongside 11 significant M6+ earthquakes since 1900. Severity outweighs frequency here: 36% of its M6+ record sits at M7 or above.
- 183
- M4+ events (since 2005)
- 11
- Major M6+ (since 1900)
- M7.7
- Strongest
- ~9
- M4+ per year
The verdict
Romania is moderately seismically active, above the global median, with 183 M4+ earthquakes logged since 2005 and 11 major M6+ events since 1900, the strongest reaching magnitude 7.7.
- 1940
- busiest year (2 major events)
- 100 km
- average recorded event depth
- 9%
- of events are shallow (<70 km, the most damaging kind)
Average catalogued magnitude is 4.4 - most events are moderate M4-5 tremors that are felt but rarely cause damage. On the M4+ activity ladder Saint Helena sits immediately above at 184 events and Kazakhstan sits immediately below at 174.
Where Romania sits in the catalog
Rank 64th of 187 tracked countries (66th percentile by M4+ count since 2005). On the M4+ activity ladder Saint Helena sits immediately above at 184 events and Kazakhstan sits immediately below at 174.
- Saint Helena - next more active (184 M4+)
- Kazakhstan - next less active (174 M4+)
Romania's M4+ count vs. every tracked country
Total catalogued M4+ events since 2005, USGS ComCat
183 Top 34% higher than 66% of 187 countries
Each bar is a 500-wide band; taller bars hold more countries. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source USGS Comprehensive Earthquake Catalog (ComCat) · 2005-present
How Romania compares to its nearest peers
Romania ranks in the 66th percentile for M4+ frequency among all 187 tracked countries. Plotted here against its 20 nearest-ranked peers by how OFTEN they shake (M4+ count) against how HARD the strongest one ever hit (max recorded magnitude).
Read the chart (all 21 values)
| Country | M4+ events | Strongest magnitude |
|---|---|---|
| Djibouti | 260 | M5.5 |
| Algeria | 245 | M6.0 |
| Mayotte | 232 | M5.9 |
| Haiti | 217 | M7.2 |
| MX | 202 | M5.8 |
| Mongolia | 196 | M6.7 |
| South Africa | 191 | M5.4 |
| Morocco | 187 | M6.8 |
| Iraq | 185 | M7.3 |
| Saint Helena | 184 | M6.0 |
| Romania (this page) | 183 | M5.6 |
| Kazakhstan | 174 | M6.1 |
| Azerbaijan | 169 | M5.6 |
| Democratic Republic of the Congo | 161 | M6.8 |
| Guadeloupe | 152 | M6.5 |
| Turkmenistan | 143 | M5.4 |
| Mauritius | 135 | M6.0 |
| Zimbabwe | 135 | M7.0 |
| Poland | 130 | M5.0 |
| Antigua and Barbuda | 129 | M6.6 |
| Samoa | 116 | M6.2 |
Major (M6+) earthquakes in Romania by year
Count of significant (magnitude 6.0+) events catalogued each year
- 1908
1908: 1 major (M6+) events
1
- 1912
1912: 1 major (M6+) events
1
- 1916
1916: 1 major (M6+) events
1
- 1934
1934: 1 major (M6+) events
1
- 1940
1940: 2 major (M6+) events
2
- 1945
1945: 1 major (M6+) events
1
- 1977
1977: 1 major (M6+) events
1
- 1986
1986: 1 major (M6+) events
1
- 1990
1990: 2 major (M6+) events
2
What this shows Romania's most active year for major earthquakes was 1940 (2 M6+ events). Major-quake counts are irregular, they track the episodic release of tectonic stress, not a smooth trend.
0 of 183 catalogued M4+ events since 2005 reached M6.0 or higher.
Magnitude distribution of major events
Breakdown of the 11 significant (M6+) earthquakes on record for Romania.
M7.0-7.9
4
36.4%
M6.0-6.9
7
63.6%
Depth of major earthquakes
Hypocentral depth of the 11 M6+ events, shallow quakes shake the surface hardest. Average depth: 100 km.
Shallow (<70 km)
1
9.1% of events
Intermediate (70–300 km)
10
90.9% of events
Deep (>300 km)
0
0.0% of events
Strongest earthquakes in Romania
The 10 most powerful events on record (USGS, since 1900).
| Mag | Location | Depth | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7.7 | 13 km ESE of Comand?u, Romania | 150.0 km | Nov 10, 1940 |
| 7.5 | 2 km N of Spulber, Romania | 94.0 km | Mar 4, 1977 |
| 7.2 | 7 km NNE of Ca?oca, Romania | 132.3 km | Aug 30, 1986 |
| 7.0 | 5 km W of Nistore?ti, Romania | 89.3 km | May 30, 1990 |
| 6.7 | 6 km SW of P?ule?ti, Romania | 105.0 km | Mar 29, 1934 |
| 6.7 | 7 km WNW of Nereju Mic, Romania | 85.9 km | Sep 7, 1945 |
| 6.6 | 12 km NNW of Gura Teghii, Romania | 130.0 km | Oct 22, 1940 |
| 6.6 | 11 km E of Ghelinţa, Romania | 130.0 km | Oct 6, 1908 |
| 6.4 | 1 km SE of Bruiu, Romania | 15.0 km | Jan 26, 1916 |
| 6.3 | 2 km SSW of N?ruja, Romania | 88.2 km | May 31, 1990 |
Significant earthquake record (11 events)
Every catalogued magnitude-6.0-and-above earthquake in Romania since 1900, most recent first.
| Mag | Location | Depth | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6.3 | 2 km SSW of N?ruja, Romania | 88.2 km | May 31, 1990 |
| 7.0 | 5 km W of Nistore?ti, Romania | 89.3 km | May 30, 1990 |
| 7.2 | 7 km NNE of Ca?oca, Romania | 132.3 km | Aug 30, 1986 |
| 7.5 | 2 km N of Spulber, Romania | 94.0 km | Mar 4, 1977 |
| 6.7 | 7 km WNW of Nereju Mic, Romania | 85.9 km | Sep 7, 1945 |
| 7.7 | 13 km ESE of Comand?u, Romania | 150.0 km | Nov 10, 1940 |
| 6.6 | 12 km NNW of Gura Teghii, Romania | 130.0 km | Oct 22, 1940 |
| 6.7 | 6 km SW of P?ule?ti, Romania | 105.0 km | Mar 29, 1934 |
| 6.4 | 1 km SE of Bruiu, Romania | 15.0 km | Jan 26, 1916 |
| 6.0 | 3 km WNW of Matca, Romania | 85.0 km | May 25, 1912 |
| 6.6 | 11 km E of Ghelinţa, Romania | 130.0 km | Oct 6, 1908 |
Other countries in this catalog sample
A Romania-keyed shuffle of the full 186-country roster, not the six nearest by count.
Switzerland
12 M4+ events · strongest M4.5
Uzbekistan
101 M4+ events · strongest M5.7
Federated States of Micronesia
59 M4+ events · strongest M6.3
Austria
10 M4+ events · strongest M4.2
Timor Leste
3,416 M4+ events · strongest M7.3
Malaysia
37 M4+ events · strongest M7.1
Peak-magnitude sample from the same roster
A second Romania-keyed shuffle of countries with a recorded max magnitude.
Understand the data
Frequently asked questions
How many earthquakes have occurred in Romania? ▼
What was the strongest earthquake in Romania? ▼
How seismically active is Romania? ▼
How deep are earthquakes in Romania? ▼
Where does this data come from? ▼
About Romania's figures
183 M4+ events since 2005 · strongest M7.7 · average M4.4 · 11 M6+ significant events since 1900 · latest M4+ catalog stamp Feb 26, 2026. Computed from the USGS Comprehensive Earthquake Catalog (ComCat). See the methodology and USGS ComCat.
Disclaimer: PlainQuake is informational only, not an emergency service or engineering advice. See our full disclaimer.
What Romania's numbers mean
Romania ranks 64th of 187 countries tracked - a country with limited but non-zero seismic activity.
- About 9 M4+ earthquakes strike Romania per year on average, though major (M6+) activity is episodic - 1940 was the busiest year on record with 2 significant events. See the full country ranking
- 9% of Romania's catalogued major earthquakes are shallow (under 70km) - shallow events generally produce stronger surface shaking than deep ones of the same magnitude. How depth affects shaking
- The strongest catalogued event reached M7.7. Compare against neighboring or similarly-ranked countries before drawing conclusions from magnitude alone. Compare strongest earthquakes
Figures reflect the USGS ComCat catalog (M4+ since 2005, M6+ significant events since 1900) - not a real-time hazard assessment. For official guidance, see the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program.
According to the US Geological Survey Earthquake Hazards Program, PlainQuake's figures are rendered directly from 315,341 recorded M4+ earthquakes and 14,428 significant M6+ events (USGS ComCat, 2005-present) -- no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of 2026-07-19.