Image: Giant. 1 – Map of the relief of Croatia, Slovenia and parts of several neighboring countries. The epicenter of the December 28, 2020 earthquake is highlighted in red. Credit: Topomap – Felix Reimann / Institute of Geophysics of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic.
Czech Rep., Dec 30 (BD) – A very strong earthquake hit Croatia at noon on Tuesday, December 29th, with a magnitude of 6.3 on the Richter Scale. The epicentre was 47 km south-east of Zagreb, but the earthquake was also felt in the Czech Republic. Seven casualties were recorded.
The earthquake struck just 3 km from the town of Petrinja, one of the worst affected localities, along with Sisak, Glina and the surrounding area. Croatian government official Tomo Medved announced that the earthquake had claimed six lives; the seventh death was reported by Croatian newspaper Večernji.
Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš (ANO) expressed solidarity and willingness to support Croatia on Twitter: ‘‘I’m following the incredibly sad footage from all across Croatia, which was hit by an earthquake. We are with the Croats and we are ready to send help. I will call Andrej Plenković. Hold on.’’
According to Czech Interior Minister Jan Hamáček (CSSD), the Czech Republic will send equipment from the Czech Fire and Rescue Service in response to Croatia’s request for humanitarian aid, including equipment such as tents, sleeping bags, lighting and so on, of a value of CZK 5 million.
Tuesday’s earthquake affected the capital for 20 seconds, causing damage and leaving most of the city without electricity. It was felt across Croatia and in neighbouring countries, as far away as Vienna, Budapest, Bratislava and Naples.
The shock was also felt in the Czech Republic, confirmed Jan Zedník of the Institute of Geophysics at the Czech Academy of Sciences. Following macroseismic questionnaires, reports came mostly from České Budějovice and Brno, as well as Sokolov, Prague and Česká Lípa. Czech seismographs also recorded the earthquakes.
Areas south of Zagreb had been hit by a series of earthquakes on Monday, but without any injuries or serious economic damage occurred. The first had a magnitude of 5.2, and the second which followed 80 minutes later was slightly weaker.
An earthquake that struck near Zagreb in March of this year had a magnitude of 5.4. Over two dozen people were injured and one girl was killed. The government estimated damage of around CZK 146 billion.
