Succession of quakes near Bulgaria’s Blagoevgrad
A succession of earthquakes rattled Bulgaria’s Blagoevgrad on September 9, the strongest being one at 8.25am of 3.7 on the Richter scale, according to provisional data posted by the European Mediterranean Seismological Centre.
The quake’s epicentre was 13km south of Blagoevgrad, at a depth of 11km.
The quake was followed by one of 2.0 on the Richter scale at 10.26am, 10km south of Blagoevgrad at a depth of 10km, and one of 3.2 on the Richter scale at 1.03pm, 13km south of Blagoevgrad at a depth of 11km.
Municipal teams were checking for damage, Bulgarian National Television said.
Seismologist Associate Professor Plamena Raikova told Nova Televizia on September 9 that tremors were not unusual for this region.
“More than 50 magnitude 2 earthquakes were registered in five days. The strongest is from this morning with magnitude 4, which was felt in the area of Simitli, Blagoevgrad and near Gotse Delchev . On the territory of Bulgaria, this is the most seismic zone,” Raikova said.
“Historically, strong tremors have been observed there as well. At the beginning of the 20th century, it was there that the strongest earthquake for continental Europe was recorded – with a magnitude of 7.8,” she said.
(Photo: Miles Davidson/sxc.hu)
