Earthquake Knocks Down Dozens of Chimneys in Bulgaria's Sofia

At least 63 fallen chimneys have been registered by Sofia authorities in the aftermath of the earthquake that rattled the Bulgarian capital early on Tuesday.

So far, 29 signals have been received by the Sofia municipality concerning fallen pieces of stucco from building facades, the capital's Mayor Yordanka Fandakova has told reporters.

13 school buildings and 10 kindergartens have suffered material damages, the most serious ones reported in 18-th School "William Gladstone" and 28th High School "Aleko Konstantinov."

Parents of kindergarten--and schoolchildren may leave them at home if they deem it appropriate, Fandakova has said.

Building damages can be reported to the following phone numbers: 112, 02/988 04 35 and 02/987 55 55.

The earthquake had a magnitude of about 5.9-6.0 on the Richter scale, up from the initial reports of 5.8 and struck at 2:58 am Tuesday morning. Its epicenter is located about 6 km from the city of Pernik.

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