Iskar

A state of emergency was declared at midnight in the northwestern Bulgarian town of Mezdra due to the torrential rainfalls and floods.

This was announced by the mayor of the municipality Nikolina Katovska, daily Dnevnik reports.

A 2.8-magnitude earthquake was registered in western Bulgaria Thursday evening, according to the European Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC).

The earthquake was registered at 6:56 p.m. on Thursday, with an epicenter located 20km south of Samokov, 35km northeast of Blagoevgrad, and 61km south of Sofia, at a depth of 2km.

There are more than 1000 spots on Bulgaria's roads at risk of landslides and partial collapses due to the profuse rains this year, the head of the Road Infrastrue Agency Lazar Lazarov told the Trud daily.

The Ministry of Environment has warned of expected rise of river water levels mainly in western and central Bulgaria on Wednesday.

Local flash floods due to intensive rainfalls are also possible.

Bulgaria's Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology forecast for Wednesday is for rainfalls in many parts of the country, more excessive in the eastern Bulgarian Burgas region.

Code orange weather warning over heavy rains has been issued for six Bulgarian districts for September 16, including Montana, Vratsa, Plovdiv, Smolyan, Pazardzhik and Sofia district.

Code orange means that the meteorological phenomena envisaged in the forecast pose a potential risk to life and property.

Code orange weather alert has been issued for four districts in northwestern Bulgaria for September 15 due to torrential rains.

The districts under code orange are Vidin, Montana, Vratsa and Sofia district, according to the National Institute of Meteorology and Hydrology at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences.

Torrential rains in Vratsa on Thursday claimed the life of a 25-year-old shepherd, Vratsa Mayor Nikolai Ivanov told bTV national channel. 

The man went missing on Thursday near the village of Tishevitsa and was found dead on Friday morning. 

Bulgaria's Ministry of Environment has warned of expected rise of river water levels throughout the country on Thursday.

Local flash floods due to heavy rainfalls and increased soil moisture are also possible, Bulgaria's Telegraph Agency reports.

Bulgaria's Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology issued a code yellow warning for heavy rains and thunderstorms for the entire territory of the country.

Local  hailstorms are not excluded either. 

At the same the Ministry of Environment and Waters warns of expected rise of water levels in the major rivers in the country, due to the heavy rains. 

A powerful hailstorm hit Bulgaria's capital city of Sofia, Tuesday afternoon minutes before 5 o'clock.

Pieces of ice the size of a walnut poured down for more than ten minutes without stopping. The disastrous hail has broken tens of cars' windshields, windows of buildings, tree branches all over the city.