For many Romanians, 4th of March brings back the fears associated with the 1977 earthquake. On that day, 42 years ago, starting at 9:22 pm, the ground shook for 55 seconds, leaving behind one of the darkest memories from the recent history of Romania.

The summary of casualties inflicted by the 1977 earthquake:

• 1,578 dead;
• 11,321 injured, mainly because of buildings collapsing;
• 156,000 flats from urban environments and 21,000 houses from the countryside were completely destroyed or severely damaged;
• 366,000 flats from urban environments and 117,000 houses from the countryside required repairs;
• the total economic losses reached USD 2 billion, from which 70% reported in Bucharest.

Through a campaign launched on 4th of March, 2019, PAID Romania - The Insurance Pool against Natural Disasters decided to make a change, moving from fear to awareness and responsibility. One of the objectives of the campaign is to declare 4th of March as The National Day of Natural Disasters Awareness.

Romanians can support this initiative by visiting paidromania.ro and signing the petition!

To accomplish the campaign's objectives, throughout 2019, PAID Romania will unroll an ample media project, coordinated by agencies Mullen (the content creating component) and Initiative (the media component), the two combining strategic and communicating elements in a way that the campaign's message - "Insured, we are less vulnerable" - will reach every Romanian homeowner.

The campaign will include:

• a special radio transmission, broadcasted by 8 important Romanian radio stations, at the exact hour when the earthquake happened 42 years ago - at 9:22 pm, 4 March 2019;
• an outdoor mesh placed on one of the most transited intersections in Bucharest, illustrating what could happen in case of another earthquake;
• a video material, soon to be launched on TV and online;
• a highly elaborated online project.

"The fact that Romania is a country with a high exposure to catastrophic risks should not be ignored. While our studies show that most Romanians understand the role and the importance of a household insurance, many of them don't do anything to financially protect themselves, only 19% of the total number of homeowners from Romania owning a mandatory household insurance policy. With the help of Mullen, we hope to raise the general awareness of the Romanian homeowners and to better inform them regarding the risks they are exposed to. We chose earthquakes over the other hazards, because an earthquake is the first thing that usually pops in our minds when we talk about catastrophes, but floods and landslides can have a high impact as well," Nicoleta RADU, General Director, PAID Romania, declared.

"Sociological studies have always shown that homes are one of the most important goods owned by Romanians. Other studies show that Romania has a very high exposure to natural disasters. Facing these facts, we were surprised to find out that only 19% of Romanian homes are insured! For us, this was an alarm signal which made us understand that, besides good trained professionals in insurance and risk management, we need an experienced communication team as well when it comes to social causes", mentioned Marius TIANU, Group Creative Director, MULLEN.

The compulsory house insurance policy in Romania (PAD) has a fixed price of either EUR 10 or EUR 20 per year (varies by the house type) and covers three risks - earthquakes, floods by natural causes, and landslides. PAD can be currently purchased from 18 insurers.

PAID was officially launched in November 2009, through the effort of 12 insurance companies, shareholders of PAID. Based on legal stipulations, PAID manages the system of mandatory household insurance in Romania, a policy which covers three basic risks specific to the country: Earthquake, Floods, Landslides.