An earth tremor measuring 4.3 on the Richter scale shook northern Bulgaria soon after 1pm on May 12 2008, the Geophysical Institute at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences said.

The epicenter was in Bulgaria, some 270km to the northeast of the capital of Sofia, near the town of Strazhitsa, Focus news agency said. The town has a sad fame because of the 1986 earthquake, which measured 7.2 on the Richter scale and killed more than 120 people.

Strazhitsa deputy mayor Verka Bozhkova said that three groups from the civil protection service were sent to the town to examine the damage and help the population if need. According to Bozhkova, the tremor frightened local residents, who left the buildings when the tremor began.

The tremor was felt in the town of Belene, where Bulgarian authorities plan to build the second nuclear power plant in the country.

Only in the region of Turgovishte, in eastern Bulgaria, were any material damages reported, most of them in the municipality of Popovo. A frame-built building and more than 10 chimneys collapsed in the village of Goritsa and the walls of other buildings cracked. Chimneys have fallen and windows were broken in the nearby villages.

It is the third tremor measuring more than four magnitudes on the Richter scale in the country since mid-April.