New tremors shook Croatia early yesterday as the Adriatic country was still picking up the pieces of a deadly earthquake that claimed at least seven lives and reduced buildings to rubble the day before.
The new magnitude 4.8 and 4.7 quakes struck after 05.15am GMT in the same zone south of Zagreb that was badly damaged by Tuesday’s magnitude 6.4 quake, the US Geological Survey said.
The earthquake was felt as far afield as Vienna.
Photo: EPA-EFE
Rescue teams spent the night scouring ruins in the hard-hit area around Petrinja, a town 50km from the capital, where numerous rooftops collapsed.
However, no new victims were found overnight by the Croatian Mountain Rescue Service, which searched more than 80 villages in the zone, rescue service head Josip Granic told reporters.
Among the dead was a young girl in Petrinja, reported to be 12 years old, and at least five people in a nearby village, said Croatian police, adding that about 20 people were injured.
Six people were rescued from the rubble with the help of dogs, the rescue service said.
Many in Petrinja were afraid to return home at night for fear of aftershocks, while damage from the quake left most of the buildings in the downtown area “unfit for use,” construction experts said.
“All the tiles in the bathroom are broken, all the dishes fell out,” Marica Pavlovic, a 72-year-old retired meat factory worker, said of the damage to her apartment.
“Even if we wanted to, we can’t go back in, there is no electricity,” she said, huddled with others in a downtown park, wrapped in blankets.
Some people opted to spend the night in their vehicels or stay with relatives in other cities, while nearly 200 took shelter in military barracks.
In the nearby town of Sisak, also badly damaged by the quake, schools opened their sports halls to those who could not sleep at home.
European Commissioner for Crisis Management Janez Lenarcic said that the bloc was preparing aid and that he was planning to visit Petrinja yesterday.
“At the moment, mostly winter tents, electric heaters, sleeping beds and sleeping bags are needed as well as housing containers,” Lenarcic wrote on Twitter.
Petrinja Mayor Darinko Dumbovic said a kindergarten was among the buildings that collapsed from the force of the quake. Luckily, it was empty at the time.
“The city is actually a huge ruin,” Dumbovic told national radio. “We are saving people, we are saving lives. We have dead people, we have missing people, injured people ... it is a catastrophe.”
The earthquake, which hit at about 11:30am GMT, rattled Petrinja and the surrounding area just a day after a smaller earthquake struck in the same vicinity, causing some damage to buildings.
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