A strong earthquake in central Croatia has killed at least one person – a girl, injured many and caused considerable damage to buildings in Petrinja, a town southeast of the capital Zagreb.
The earthquake was felt throughout the country on Tuesday, as well as in neighbouring Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and as far away as Graz in southern Austria.
Croatian state broadcaster HRT confirmed the girl died in the earthquake. The child’s age or other details were not immediately available.
“The centre of Petrinja as it used to be no longer exists,” HRT said in its report. “One girl died and there are injuries and people inside collapsed buildings.”
Petrinja Mayor Darinko Dumbovic said in a statement broadcast by HRT TV: “My town has been completely destroyed, we have dead children.
“This is like Hiroshima – half of the city no longer exists.”
Petrinja is about 60km (37 miles) from Zagreb.
Al Jazeera reported a boy and his father being pulled from a car buried in the rubble.
The European Mediterranean Seismological Center said the 6.3 magnitude earthquake hit 46km (17 miles) southeast of Zagreb. The same area was struck by a 5.2 quake on Monday.
Blanka, a resident of Sisak city, about 8.5 miles (14km) from Petrinja, was inside a shop when the earthquake struck.
“Everything collapsed, all of our things are inside,” she told Al Jazeera. “I don’t know what to expect. I am still shaking, I can still feel the earthquake.”
Croatian Red Cross said it was responding to a “very serious” situation in Petrinja following the earthquake.
Croatian media said people were injured by the quake, but could not initially say how many amid the confusion and downed phone lines.
Croatian seismologist Kresimir Kuk described the earthquake as “extremely strong”, far stronger than another one that hit Zagreb and nearby areas in spring.
He warned people to keep out of potentially shaky, old buildings and move to the newer areas of the city because of the aftershocks.
In Zagreb, people ran out into the streets and parks in fear. Many reportedly were leaving the city, ignoring a travel ban imposed because of the coronavirus outbreak.
Stephen Hicks, a seismologist at Imperial College in London, tweeted: “We can probably expect a quite strong shaking and hence some damage to buildings from this earthquake.”
Slovenia’s Krsko nuclear power plant was shut down as a precaution, the plant’s spokeswoman said Tuesday.“I can confirm the preventive shutdown,” spokeswoman Ida Novak Jerele told AFP. Source: https://www.daily-bangladesh.com
