VRANCEA (ROMANIA) SUBCRUSTAL EARTHQUAKES: HISTORICAL SOURCES AND MACROSEISMIC INTENSITY ASSESSMENT

The aim of the present paper is that of bringing in additional information regarding the macroseismic effects of the historical earthquakes that occurred on the Romanian territory with the purpose of improving the macroseismic maps. It is known the fact that in time, the Romanian territory has been shaken by strong earthquakes, most of them being centered within Vrancea Zone, which is situated at the bending zone of the South-Eastern Carpathians. As results from the contemporaries ’ notes, such major earthquakes occurred also during the 19th century, on the 26th of October 1802 and the 23rd of January 1838, causing numerous victims and major material damages. Additional information that refer to the macroseismic effects produced by the above mentioned earthquakes, have been recently discovered due to the investigation of old books fund which exists in some monasteries and museums. The results of the investigation were concretized in discovering 37 historical records that allowed us to make a correct interpretation of the destroying impact of these earthquakes over the society and the environment. New elements regarding the research of these earthquakes were obtained after reevaluating the information from certain areas (especially from the epicentral zone), concerning the environmental effects. In this paper, the information referring to these earthquakes, identified as a result of investigating historical sources, are interpreted and evaluated with the purpose of assigning some seismic intensities for elaborating the macroseismic maps. Key words: historical earthquake record, Vrancea zone, macroseismic map. 1