Earthquake of 3.5 on the Richter Scale near Pernik

An earthquake of magnitude 3.5 on the Richter scale near Pernik around 4.53 am on Thursday morning, announced the National Institute of Geophysics, Geodesy and Geography at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences.

According to the European Seismological Center, the epicenter of the quake was 7 km northwest of the city and its depth was just over 15 km. The epicenter was registered near the village of Meshtitza, where in May 2012 there was an earthquake of 5.8, which caused serious damage to the houses.

After the quake on Thursday there are no reports of injured people and material damage, the MoI press office said. The earthquake was felt in the southern and southwest districts of Sofia, but it was so weak that it could not cause any damage. Residents of Pernik have reported that they have heard something like a thunder. The seismologist of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Blagovesta Babachkova, commented that this is common for the earthquakes in the region due to geological features and is not related to the force of the earthquake. According to her, this is a slight earthquake and quakes of such magnitude happen in our country on average once a month.