The 1838 Vrancea earthquake struck the western part of Vrancea County on 23 January (O.S. 11 January) with a magnitude of 7.5. The seism caused extensive damage in Moldavia and Wallachia, and killed dozens of people. The earthquake occurred just 36 years after another earthquake of magnitude over 7 on Richter scale devastated the southern part of Wallachia. During this earthquake, in some areas, especially the epicentral zone, mainly in Vrancea, Buzău, Brăila and Dâmbovița counties appeared large ground cracks and liquefaction phenomena.