In March 1977, Baconsky and his wife Clara fell victims to the 7.2 Mw Vrancea earthquake which devastated Bucharest. At the time, Baconsky was preparing for a new trip abroad: complying with Communist Romania's restrictions on the use of passports, he had just asked authorities to release the document, and was carrying it on his person. His last volumes, "Biserica neagră" and "Corabia lui Sebastian" ("Sebastian's Ship"), remained unpublished.