6.9 Richter scale earthquake in Aegean Sea felt in Sofia, throughout Bulgaria
An earthquake measuring 6.9 on the Richter Scale that hit the Aegean Sea on May 24 2014 was felt in Sofia and throughout Bulgaria.
The earthquake struck at about 12.25pm Sofia time and was followed about nine minutes later by another, of 5 on the Richter scale, in the same location in the Aegean, in the vicinity of Thassos.
Bulgarian news agency Focus quoted Interior Ministry fire-fighters chief Nikolai Nikolov saying that there were no immediate reports of injuries or damaged buildings, but check were underway in the southern Bulgarian regions of Smolyan, Kurdjali and Haskovo, which are the closest to the epicentre of the earthquake.
Going by information on the website of the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC), the earthquake was 257km north-west of Izmir in Turkey and about 310km from Sofia.
The epicentre, at a depth of about two km, was between the Greek islands of Lemnos and Samothrace.
The earthquake was also strong enough to have been felt in Romanian capital city Bucharest, as well as southern and eastern Romania, daily Evenimentul Zilei reported.
EMSC also registered at least 18 after-shocks, including one of magnitude 5 on the Richter scale and six others above magnitude 4, in the northern Aegean Sea and western Turkey.
ESMC initially reported the earthquake as 6.5 on the Richter scale. The United States Geological Survey, which tracks natural hazards worldwide, initially put the magnitude of the earthquake at 6.4 on the Richter scale, later increasing the value to 6.9 magnitude.
(Photo: Miles Davidson)
