A strong earthquake has affected central Croatia and caused significant damage and at least one death in a city southeast of the capital
ZAGREB, Croatia – A strong earthquake affected central Croatia on Tuesday and caused significant damage to houses and other buildings in a city southeast of the capital. A girl died in the quake and a man and a boy were taken alive from a car buried in the rubble and sent to a hospital.
The European Mediterranean Seismological Center said a magnitude 6.3 earthquake affected 46 kilometers (28 miles) southeast of Zagreb. According to early reports, the quake caused extensive damage, collapsing roofs, building facades and even some entire buildings.
The same area was affected by a 5.2 quake on Monday and several minor aftershocks were heard on Tuesday.
Croatian state channel HRT said a girl died in the Petrinja earthquake, a city southeast of the capital that was hardest hit by the quake. Other Croatian media also reported the death, citing the city’s mayor. The child’s age or other details were not immediately available.
“The Petrinja center no longer existed,” HRT said in its report. “A girl died and there are injuries and people inside collapsed buildings.”
“My city has been completely destroyed, we have dead children,” Petrinja Mayor Darinko Dumbovic said in a statement broadcast by HRT TV. “This is like Hiroshima: half the city no longer exists.”
“The city has been demolished, the city is no longer livable,” he said. “We need help.”
Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic and other government ministers arrived in Petrinja after the earthquake.
The regional television channel N1 reported live from the city on Tuesday that a collapsed building had collapsed on a car. The images showed firefighters trying to remove debris to get to the car, which was buried underneath. A man and a small child were finally rescued from the car and taken to an ambulance.
Fallen bricks and dust poured down the streets and many houses were completely destroyed. The Croatian army deployed to Petrinja to help with the rescue operation.
Croatian media said people were injured by the quake, but were unable to initially say how many amid the confusion and falling telephone lines.
Croatian seismologist Kresimir Kuk described the quake as “extremely strong”, much stronger than another that affected Zagreb and areas close to spring. He warned people to stay away from potentially unstable old buildings and move to newer areas of the city due to aftershocks.
In the capital, people ran through the streets and parks in fear. Many reportedly left Zagreb ignoring the travel ban imposed due to the coronavirus outbreak.
The quake affected the whole country and neighboring Serbia, Bosnia and Slovenia. It even felt as far away as Graz, in southern Austria, the Austrian Press Agency reported.
Slovenian authorities said the Krsko nuclear power plant was temporarily shut down after the quake. The plant is jointly owned by Slovenia and Croatia and is located near its border.