2nd earthquake swarm strikes Bulgaria in 3 weeks

February 9, 2011 – Seismological activity in Bulgaria has been busy over the past few hours with eight earthquakes detected overnight, and two the previous day, Bulgarian media reported. All of them were in the southwest of Bulgaria, near the towns of Petrich and Sandanski, by the Greek border. Tremors ranged from 2.0 to 3.3 on the Richter scale. The first one, on February 8, had a magnitude of 2.5 on the Richter scale and 5km deep epicenter, 13 km east of Petrich, occurring at 00:35 am, followed by one measuring two on the Richter scale, 10km underground, about 12km west of the town of Sandanski at 1:10 am. Several more earthquakes then occurred, all of them between 10 and 15km from Petrich, measuring between 2.0 and 3.0 on the Richter scale. On February 7 2010, a tremor of 3.1 on the Richter scale was registered at 12.38pm, about 140km south of Sofia, again close to Petrich, followed by a 3.3 jolt on the Richter scale at 6:20pm, also in the same area. There are no reports of structural damage or any injuries. –Sofiaecho 

Seismic activity in Bulgaria appears to be increasing. This could be an early indication that geological change is stirring under the Bulgarian landscape. Rupite, for example, is a village in Bulgaria that is flanked by thermal springs (left) and sits in fact in the crater of the extinct volcano Kozhuh (281 meters) so we know there are active magma swells under Bulgaria. Rupite is 10-12 km from Petrich where most of the quakes have occurred.