A 2.6 magnitude earthquake was registered at 8.36 PM last night 19.2 kms. Northwest of the town of Yakoruda in Blagoevgrad region, the Bulgarian news agency BTA reports. According to data of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences’ National Institute of Geophysics, Geodesy and Geography, the epicenter was 63 kms. from the centre of Sofia, at a depth of 8.4 kms.

A little before 7.04 and 7.08 PM Bulgarian time two more powerful earthquakes – 6.4 and 5.8 on the Richter scale – hit the border region between Turkey and Syria, rocking Hatay province in Southern Turkey. Besides Turkey and Syria, the earthquakes were also felt in Egypt and Lebanon, there is data that buildings have been destroyed. The Anadolu news agency reports, citing the disaster and emergency situation management directorate, that the epicenter of the first quake was in Defne, Hatay province, at a depth of 16.7 kms. and the second – with epicenter in Samandag, Hatay province at a depth of 7 kms. Turkish rescue teams are working on location, one casualty and dozens of wounded have been reported in Syria.

Different Bulgarian municipalities continue to make donations for Turkey and Syria. At the request of the Syrian embassy, no monetary aid is admissible because of the sanctions imposed on the country and the blocking of Syrian bank accounts. That is why the donations for Syria can be warm clothes, medicines and sanitary supplies.