EVENT - October 29th 2004
The effects of the earthquake, which happened two days ago have been felt all over the country as well as abroad. Fortunately, the phenomenon didnât cause any great damages and no victims have been registered.
ALERT
A few minutes after the earthquake, the Operative Centre for Crisis Situations, inside the Ministry of Administration and Internal Affairs, has been activated. The Centre ordered that all the chiefs to come to work and that the riot police officers in the territories affected by the earthquake should be supplemented. (By Eduard Pascu)
SCARED TO DEATH IN CHISINAU
The earthquake that happened in Romania has been felt by our Moldavian, Ukrainian and Bulgarian neighbours and in Turkey as well. In the Moldavian Republic, where a man died, the earthquakeâs intensity has been "between 5 and 6 degrees on the Richter scale", says the Itar-Tass Russian agency. In Bulgaria, the seismic wave measured approximately 5.5 degrees on the Richter scale, according to the Novinite agency. Earthquakeâs effects have been felt especially in the North-East of the country. In the localities near the Danube, people got out of their houses, and in Silistra the walls from more buildings cracked. The Turks frightened a lot as well. In Istanbul, the inhabitants sheltered themselves on the streets, under the clear sky. (Irina Cristea)
THE EARTHQUAKE AFFECTED THE REAL ESTATE MARKET
The earthquake on Wednesday night frightened all the inhabitants of Bucharest. Yesterday, many clients that were to purchase flats in tall buildings built before 1977 gave up on signing the papers, even if this meant losing a few thousand euros, which had been paid in advance.
COLLAPSE
"Prices of the apartments in blocks with 10 stories, which have been built before 1977, will dramatically decrease", believes Emil Giurgiu, president of the National Union of the Real Estate Agents (NUREA). He thinks that the prices on this market will collapse with 30 to 40%, because people know that heights and earthquakes donât go well together. "The apartments in the new blocks having eight or ten stories, which have been built to resist for up to 8 degrees earthquakes, will be affected as well", says Giurgiu. Emotional remembrance will impose.
GAIN
"People reoriented towards the houses or four storied blocks, even if they are at the periphery", says Giurgiu. These tendencies have been observed in the morning after the earthquake. "The prices of the little four storied blocks will increase by 10 to 15%, not depending on the location", reckons Giurgiu. The people projecting neighbourhoods with cheaper houses at the periphery of the Capital and the land owners will gain a lot. The saying "every wonder doesnât last more than three days", this meaning that the real estate market will come back to normal after the people will forget the fright on Wednesday night, is not what the NUREA president thinks. "There are a lot of people thinking that in 2006 a major earthquake will occur. I think that now this belief will become more certain", says Giurgiu.
REPLY
"I donât think that the earthquake will have a real effect upon the real estate market", states Liviu Ureche, president of the Romanian Association of Real Estate Agencies. He adds that the buildings having major problems are very well-known - the ones published on the City Hallâs website - and that these buildings already have much lower prices. However, the market will keep its course, meaning that the prices of old or new buildings will increase until the European Union adherence. (By Daniela Ivan)
Translation: SORIN BALAN