Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, May 30, 1990 TAG: 9005300520
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: EVENING
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: BUCHAREST, ROMANIA LENGTH: Short
The temblor was felt in the Soviet Union, Hungary, Greece, Turkey and Bulgaria, but no casualties or serious damage was reported in those countries.
The largest number of injured were in Brasov, the mountain industrial and tourist town 105 miles north of Bucharest, where 42 people were hurt.
In Golden, Colo. the U.S. Geological Survey said the earthquake measured 6.5 on Richter scale with an epicenter 100 miles north of Bucharest.
The quake began some 89 kilometers, or 55 miles, below the surface of the earth, said Martin Chapman, a research associate at Virginia Tech's Seismological Observatory.
"That's a little deeper than usual. Quite often earthquakes are shallower," he said. "That area in Romania has a history of intermediate-depth earthquakes."
In Bulgaria, the state BTA news agency said the temblor was felt nationwide but there was minor damage only in Silistra, a town on the border with Romania. A nuclear power plant in Kozlodoui on the Danube river was closed.
In Moscow, 1,000 miles east of Bucharest, the quake rocked buildings, and U.S. officials closed the older U.S. Embassy, which is 10 stories tall.
"It's an old building, and when the upper floors shook we called around other places in town and closed the building as precaution to do safety checks," embassy spokesman Jim Bullock said.
by CNB