Earthquake of magnitude 5.5 shakes off Romania, Bulgaria
A 5.5-magnitude earthquake struck off Romania and northeastern Bulgaria on 5 August 2009 around 10:45, Romanian National Institute for Earth Physics said. The quake's epicenter was off the Romanian and Bulgarian Black Sea coasts, and its estimated depth was 20 km.
The actual tremor's epicenter was on the Sabla sea fault in Bulgaria,30 km away from southern Mangalia, and was mainly felt on the seaside. The latest big quake in this area ocurred on March 31, 1901.
" At this magnitude, this could not have done important damage, especially due to its epicenter in the Black Sea," Gheorghe Marmureanu, director of the Earth Physics Institute said. He however added the actual feel of the tremor was strong enough.
" I was here at the Dobrigea Observatory, and I felt it quote intensely, " Marmureanu added. According to Sofia News Agency, the event was felt in the Bulgarian capital as well.
" The Sable area is considered an active seismic arrea, an event of a magnitude over 7 degrees occured in 1901. The surface quakes of this type usually create replicas, of smaller intensity. We will be able to evaluate this quake in a few hours, after we see how the seismic activity unfolds in the area. Only then will we know for sure if this was the main tremor or a pre- event. It is never out of the question that a surface earthquake to be followed by a seismic event of higher intensity than the innitial. But I don't think such is the case," Mircea Radulian, scientific director of the Earth Physics Institute said in an interview with Evenimentul Zilei.
Representatives of the Warning Center however say this was a tremor with a much smaller intensity, of 4.8 degrees. " It was not such a big event, with the epicenter on sea, " said Toader Victorian, chief inspector of the Central Warning Laboratory.
The latest quake felt in Romania occurred on April 25, with a 5,3 degree intensity.
Bucharest Herald
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