Two more strong earthquakes struck Croatia on Wednesday morning, the first measuring 4.7 and the second 4.8 on the Richter scale, with the epicenter in the Petrinja area.
The first hit at 6.15 a.m. and the second a little later, the head of the Seismological Survey, Ines Ivancic, told Croatian Radio.
She said the ground “will rock for a long time. Tuesday’s earthquake was devastating and will certainly be followed by a long series of earthquakes, including, quite certainly, stronger ones.”
Ivancic said weaker tremors like those today would certainly affect the buildings in Petrinja and Sisak which were damaged in Tuesday’s 6.2 quake, which has claimed seven lives and caused enormous damage.
Ivancic said Petrinja was struck by “an enormous quantity” of smaller earthquakes since Monday. The ground is shaking almost every minute, she said, including at least 25 to 30 tremors measuring above 3 on the Richter scale.
Majske Poljane, a village outside Glina, about 70 kilometers south of Zagreb, was worst hit by the 6.2-magnitude earthquake on Tuesday, the deputy mayor of Glina, Branka Baksic Mitic, said.
“There are hardly 10 percent of houses here that have been left intact. People are still being pulled out from under the rubble,” Baksic Mitic told the Index.hr news website.
She said that tents were being set up on a football field in Glina for people who have been left homeless by the earthquake.
Glina Mayor Stjepan Kostanjevic said on Wednesday the ground in the area was shaking again. “Somewhere houses have been razed to the ground, somewhere chimneys have fallen. People are scared and we have to calm the situation. We have been fighting all night.”
He reiterated that five Glina residents were killed in the quake and that two were rescued from under the rubble.
“The Timber Center can accommodate 150 people. There’s still room. We’ll have to find more long-term accommodation because reconstruction will last long. There are houses where people can’t live at all.”
Croatian Mountain Rescue Service (HGSS) head Josip Granic said on Wednesday that over the past night HGSS members visited 84 villages and hamlets in areas struck by yesterday’s 6.2 earthquake.
“We found people outside. Nowhere has anyone been found under rubble or needing emergency assistance. We had two people with broken arms whom we turned over to emergency medical services,” Granic told Croatian Radio.
Speaking from Petrinja, he said this morning HGSS was sending some 100 members to continue to inspect villages.
Granic said that during yesterday’s tour the HGSS established where food, diapers or blankets were needed and that it was sending people there to deliver them.
“Everything is taking its course. Despite such a difficult situation, things are nonetheless functioning.”
Granic said the old buildings in the center of Petrinja were demolished and that many nearby buildings were damaged.
