The earthquake that the Bulgarian capital Sofia experienced at 3 am on Tuesday has been the strongest in its history since 1858, i.e. in 154 years, historical records indicate.
© Lost BulgariaA file photo shows destruction from the 1928 earthquake in Chirpan; the small Bulgarian town was hit by another quake in 1942.
On Tuesday, Bulgaria's territory saw over 60 weak aftershocks after the 5.8-5.9-magnitude it experienced early Tuesday morning, according to the Geophysics Institute of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences.
All of the 60 aftershocks had magnitudes of over 1 on the Richter scale, and their epicenters were around the western Bulgarian city of Pernik, where the initial earthquake hit at about 2:58 am on Tuesday. Some of the major aftershocks had a magnitude of 4.2-4.7, and were felt in Pernik and Sofia.
On September 30, 1858, when the future Bulgarian capital was still only a provincial town in the Ottoman Empire, it suffered an earthquake that had an estimated magnitude of 6.6-7.0 on the Richter Scale, damaging some 80% of its buildings.
Comment: One has to wonder if the oil and gas drilling in this exact area of Italy, the gas drilling having begun late last year, has anything to do with these earthquakes...
Why Italy's Earthquake Was Weird
Then there were the recent strong earthquakes in Bulgaria and Norway. Things be rockin' and rollin'!
5.6 earthquake which jolted Bulgaria was strongest since 1858, and the aftershocks continue
USGS: Earthquake Magnitude 6.2 - Norwegian Sea