The closest earthquake of magnitude 6.4 occurred around 12 o’clock on Tuesday (local time) in the town of Petrinja, 46 kilometers southeast of Zagreb, the capital. The quake has caused extensive damage, killing at least seven people and injuring dozens more. This is the strongest earthquake in the past two days. Earlier, at around 7:50 a.m. on Monday, two earthquakes of magnitude 4.7 and 4.1 of magnitude had occurred with an epicenter about five kilometers southeast of Petrinja.
The first earthquake was recorded at 6:30 a.m. Monday in Sisak, another town near Petrinja. The magnitude 5.2 earthquake destroyed much of the town’s infrastructure, a 12-year-old girl died and nearly 20 others injured.
Mayor Petrinja Darinko Dumbovic said that the continuous earthquakes since yesterday have caused the town of Petrinja to be severely damaged, many structures cannot be repaired, some people are still missing in the collapsed buildings.
Immediately after the disaster struck, Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic and government officials arrived on the scene and instructed the authorities to quickly assist the people and repair the damage. In the spirit of keeping people out of the cold, Prime Minister Plenkovic instructed military units and hotels around the area to prepare temporary accommodation for residents whose homes had been demolished. The quake also damaged a hospital, forcing the local government to mobilize army helicopters to move patients.
Local authorities have also warned residents to stay away from old buildings that are likely to be collapsed by aftershocks and move to safer assembly areas. However, many residents are believed to have left the locality despite the travel ban aimed at preventing the spread of the Covid-19 epidemic.
The earthquake has made some neighboring countries such as Czech, Slovakia, Hungary, Austria and Italy also felt. In the capital city of Prague, Czech Republic, some people in the whole high-rise building had to call the police and firefighters after noticing that there was a shake that caused objects in the house to move.