Shoppers Clutch Shelves as Earthquake Hits Croatia.
A strong earthquake in Croatia destroyed buildings and killed at least seven people on Tuesday [local time] southwest of the capital, displacing scores of area residents or making them afraid to sleep indoors as emergency teams searched for those still missing by nightfall.
The European Mediterranean Seismological Center said themagnitude 6.3 quake hit 46km southeast of Zagreb just before 12:20pm local time. It caused widespread damage in the hardest-hit town of Petrinja. The same area was struck by a magnitude 5.2 quake on Monday.
Officials said a 12-year-old girl died in Petrinja, a town of some 25,000 people. Another six people were killed in nearly destroyed villages close to the town, according to HRT state television. At least 26 people were hospitalised, six with serious injuries, officials said, adding that many more people remained unaccounted for.
In Petrinja, cries could be heard from underneath destroyed houses. One woman was found alive some four hours after the quake. Emergency teams used rescue dogs in the search for survivors, while family members looked on in despair.
"My town has been completely destroyed. We have dead children," Petrinja Mayor Darinko Dumbovic said in a statement broadcast by HRT. "This is like Hiroshima - half of the city no longer exists."
Marica Pavlovic, a resident, said the quake felt "worse than a war".
"It was horrible, a shock, you don't know what to do, whether to run out or hide somewhere," she told the Associated Press.
A woman reacts next to buildings damaged in an earthquake in Petrinja, Croatia. Photo / AP
Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic and other government ministers arrived in Petrinja after the earthquake.
"The biggest part of central Petrinja is in a red zone, which means that most of the buildings are not usable," Plenkovic said.
He said the army has 500 places ready in barracks to house people, while others will be accommodated in nearby hotels and other places.
"No one must stay out in the cold tonight," the prime minister said.
Officials later toured a damaged hospital in the nearby town of Sisak, which was also badly hit by the earthquake.
Soldiers inspect the remains of a building damaged in the earthquake. Photo / AP
Plenkovic said the hospital's patients will be evacuated in army helicopters and in ambulances. Health officials said a baby was delivered in a tent in front of the hospital in the aftermath of the earthquake.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Twitter that she spoke with Plenkovic and instructed an envoy to travel to Croatia as soon as possible.
As a Mediterranean country, Croatia is prone to earthquakes, but not big ones. The last strong quake struck in the 1990s when the picturesque Adriatic coast village of Ston was destroyed.
Regional TV channel N1 reported from Petrinja that a collapsed building had fallen on a car. The footage showed firefighters trying to remove the debris. A man and a small boy eventually were rescued from the car and carried into an ambulance.
A view of remains of a car covered by debris and buildings damaged in an earthquake in Petrinja, Croatia. Photo / AP
Fallen bricks and dust littered the streets as emergency teams used rescue dogs while looking for survivors in the rubble. A woman was found alive some four hours after the earthquake, rescuers said.
The Croatian military was deployed in Petrinja to help with the rescue operation.
Croatian seismologist Kresimir Kuk described the earthquake as "extremely strong", far stronger than another one that hit Zagreb and nearby areas in the spring. He warned people to keep out of potentially shaky old buildings and move to newer areas of the city because of aftershocks.
In the capital, people ran into the streets in fear.
The earthquake was felt throughout the country and in neighboring Serbia, Bosnia and Slovenia. It was felt as far away as Graz in southern Austria, the Austria Press Agency reported.
Authorities in Slovenia said the Krsko nuclear power plant was temporarily shut down following the earthquake. The power plant is jointly owned by Slovenia and Croatia and located near their border.
