Reported by EMSC23d ago
M2.6 earthquake in Bulgaria
Thursday, September 3, 2026, 05:46:54 UTC · 41.740°N, 23.720°E
A magnitude 2.6 earthquake struck in Bulgaria on Thursday, September 3, 2026, 05:46:54 UTC, at a depth of 2.0 km (shallow).
- Magnitude
- 2.6
- Minor · ml
- Depth
- 2 km
- Shallow
- Reported by
- EMSC
- Agency EMSC
- Nearest tracker
- 138 km
- from Thessaloniki
Outlined circle: this earthquake
In context
How big was it, and why here?
Energy released
120 kg of TNT
That is about 1/125,702 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 3,981 times more energy.
Tectonic setting
198 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Aegean Sea and Eurasian plates. Earthquakes this far from a boundary happen on faults inside a plate, often less frequently but sometimes strongly.
Depth: shallow
2 km
Shallow earthquakes (under 70 km) produce the strongest surface shaking for their size, so they are the ones most likely to cause damage near the epicenter.
After the main event
Aftershocks within 50 km
USGS and EMSC have not published any M2.5+ earthquake within 50 km since this event.
Regional history
Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km
USGS lists 232 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 7.2Aegean SeaNovember 8, 1905 · 198 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.19 km S of Stara Zagora, BulgariaApril 14, 1928 · 173 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.13 km W of Brezovo, BulgariaApril 18, 1928 · 129 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.07 km SE of Stara Kresna, BulgariaApril 4, 1904 · 39 km W of this epicenter
- 7.055 km S of Mýrina, GreeceFebruary 19, 1968 · 283 km S of this epicenter
- 6.97 km NNE of Ágios Nikólaos, GreeceSeptember 26, 1932 · 159 km S of this epicenter
- 6.921 km SSW of Kamariótissa, GreeceMay 24, 2014 · 214 km SE of this epicenter
- 6.86 km W of Stara Kresna, BulgariaApril 4, 1904 · 51 km W of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 67 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 1,737 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1963M6.0
Macedonia: Skopje
26 Jul 1963 · 204 km away · intensity X
1,070 deaths$1.0 billion damage
- 1932M6.9
Hierissos-Strantonion (Chalkidiki)
26 Sep 1932 · 139 km away · intensity X
161 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)tsunami
- 1928M6.8
Chirpan
14 Apr 1928 · 140 km away · intensity X
127 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)
- 1931M5.8
Korce
28 Jan 1931 · 275 km away · intensity IX
90 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
- 1978M6.4
Thessaloniki
20 Jun 1978 · 119 km away · intensity VIII
50 deaths$250 million damagetsunami
- 1942M6.0
Peshkopia, Magellare
27 Aug 1942 · 276 km away · intensity X
43 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.