An earthquake hits Romania, felt by countries in eastern Europe

An earthquake hits Romania, felt by countries in eastern Europe

A 5.6-magnitude earthquake hit parts of Romania on Tuesday, according to the US Geological Survey, and was felt by residents of neighboring countries such as Bulgaria and Serbia.

Local reports and news on social media spoke of minor damage to buildings and cars in Romania, and showed people rushing out of buildings. There were no reports of major injuries or losses.

The earthquake occurred at 3:16 pm (13:16 GMT) at a depth of 10 kilometers in the province of Gorg, southeastern Romania, according to the American Center on its website.

On Monday, this region in Romania was hit by a less powerful earthquake that did not cause damage or injuries.

These two earthquakes have nothing to do with the devastating earthquake that hit Turkey and Syria last week, according to the Romanian National Institute of Earth Physics, on Tuesday, but the repeated tremors worried some people.

Romania is located on several seismic faults. Experts point to "high probability of an earthquake."

On March 4, 1977, an earthquake killed 1,570 people and injured more than 11,000, most of them in Bucharest, located on the Frangia Fault.