In 1977 Romania was hit by one of the most powerful earthquakes in its history. Episode two of the Five Senses of Austerity engages with the way in which the state dealt with the aftermath. On the one hand, the state saw the natural disaster as an opportunity for a particular kind of redevelopment, while on the other hand, for many Romanians, the earthquake marked the actual moment when things started to take a turn for the worse. The moment when austerity began.