A strong earthquake in Croatia ravaged buildings southwest of the capital on Tuesday and killed at least seven people, displacing dozens of residents from the area or scaring them to sleep indoors as emergency teams searched for those missing at nightfall goods.
The European Mediterranean Seismological Center said the 6.3 magnitude earthquake hit 28 miles southeast of Zagreb just before 12:20 a.m. local time. It caused widespread damage in the worst hit city of Petrinja. The same area was hit by a magnitude 5.2 earthquake on Monday.
Officials said a 12-year-old girl died in Petrinja, a city of about 25,000 residents. Another six people were killed in near-destroyed villages near the city, according to HRT state television. At least 26 people were hospitalized, six with serious injuries, officials said, adding that many more people went missing.
In Petrinja there were shouts from below destroyed houses. A woman was found alive about four hours after the earthquake. Emergency teams used rescue dogs to search for survivors, while family members watched desperately.
“My town has been completely destroyed. We have dead children,” said Mayor of Petrinja Darinko Dumbovic in a statement from HRT. “This is like Hiroshima – half the city no longer exists.”
Firefighters worked to remove the debris from a collapsed building that had fallen on a car. A man and a small boy were eventually rescued from the vehicle and carried to an ambulance.
The city had no electricity or running water as officials rushed to set up temporary housing for all displaced people in need. Residents fearing another earthquake seemed ready to spend the night outside their homes.
Marica Pavlovic, a resident of Petrinja, said the earthquake felt “worse than a war.”
“It was awful, a shock. You don’t know what to do, whether to run or hide somewhere,” she told The Associated Press.
ANTONIO BRONIC / REUTERS
Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic and other ministers arrived in Petrinja after the earthquake.
“Most of the center of Petrinja is in a red zone, which means that most of the buildings are not usable,” said Plenkovic.
He said the military has 500 places ready in barracks to house people, while others will be housed in nearby hotels and other places.
“No one should be out in the cold tonight,” said the prime minister.
Officials also visited a damaged hospital in the nearby town of Sisak, which was also badly hit. Plenkovic said the patients will be evacuated in army helicopters and ambulances.
Health officials said a baby was delivered to a tent outside the hospital in the aftermath of the earthquake.
Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, said on Twitter that she had spoken to Plenkovic and ordered an envoy to travel to Croatia as soon as possible.
As a Mediterranean country, Croatia is prone to earthquakes, but not major ones. The last strong earthquake occurred in the 1990s, when the picturesque village of Ston on the Adriatic coast was destroyed.
DAMIR SENCAR / AFP via Getty
The Croatian army was deployed in the earthquake-hit area to assist in the rescue operation.
Croatian seismologist Kresimir Kuk described the earthquake as “extremely strong,” much stronger than another that hit Zagreb and nearby areas in the spring. He warned people to stay out of potentially shaky old buildings and move to newer parts of the city due to aftershocks.
In the capital, people ran into the streets in fear.
The earthquake was felt across the country and in the neighboring countries of Serbia, Bosnia and Slovenia. It felt as far away as Graz in southern Austria, the Austrian news agency reported.
Authorities in Slovenia said the Krsko nuclear power plant was temporarily shut down after the earthquake. The power plant is jointly owned by Slovenia and Croatia and is located near their border.