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Devastating earthquake hits Croatia, killing seven, injuring 26
A powerful 6,4 magnitude earthquake rocked central Croatia on Tuesday, 29 December 2020, killing at seven people and leaving 26 others injured. The quake struck at around 11h30GMT near the town of Petrinja, around 50 kilometres south of the capital, Zagreb, according to the United States Geological Survey. The quake was the second to hit the region in just two days. Seven people were confirmed dead, while 26 others were injured, with six having serious injuries. Initial reports showed many buildings destroyed in Petrinja. The mayor of Petrinja Darinko Dumbović said that half of the town has been destroyed. The earthquake was felt throughout northern Croatia, as well as in large parts of Slovenia, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Hungary, Slovakia and Italy, as well as in some parts of Montenegro, Germany and the Czech Republic. A 13-year-old girl died and at least 20 others were injured in Petrinja. A 20-year-old man and his father were killed when their house collapsed in Majske Poljane near Glina. Three other people were later found dead in the same village. Majske Poljane was the hardest hit of all the settlements affected by the earthquake. One person was later found dead in Žažina after the local church collapsed. On 3 January 2021, a volunteer rescue worker fell to his death from a building while he was repairing damage from the earthquake. Tomislav Fabijanic, head of the emergency medical service in Sisak near Petrinja, said there were many injured in Petrinja and in Sisak. "There are fractures, there are concussions and some had to be operated on," he said. The country's sole nuclear power plant, which is 100 km from the epicentre, was shut down as a precaution.
Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic, who rushed to Petrinja, said, "We have information that one girl was killed. The army is here to help. We will have to move some people from Petrinja because it is unsafe to be here." The town of Petrinja was the worst affected, with many buildings collapsed and a major power outage. Damage and power outages were also reported in Dvor, Glina, Gvozd, Hrvatska Kostajnica, Kutina, Sisak, Sunja, Topusko, Velika Gorica and Zagreb, as well as the neighbouring countries Bosnia and Herzegovina and Slovenia. The earthquake had a magnitude of 6,4 Mw and a depth of 10 kilometres according to Advanced National Seismic System (ANSS) and European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC), while the Seismological Survey of Croatia recorded 6,2 ML. The maximum felt intensity was VIII (heavily damaging) to IX (destructive) on the European macroseismic scale (EMS) and IX (violent) on the Modified Mercalli intensity scale (MMI). The location and depth of this event show that it was an intraplate earthquake that occurred as a result of shallow strike-slip faulting within the Eurasian Plate. The calculated focal mechanism for the event indicates that rupture occurred on a nearly vertical fault striking either to the southeast or southwest. Croatia declared 2 January 2021 a national day of mourning in honour of the victims of this earthquake. Sources: Deutche Welle, Al Jazeera |
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