Days of fear and hope in Croatia
At least seven dead after the 6.4 magnitude earthquake that hit the region.
“The tremors are felt all the time, and between 12:19 p.m. when the big one hit (6.3) and by 4:30 p.m.we had 16 smaller quakes (between 3 and 4.7 magnitude) with aftershocks coming every minute or so. It’s frightening.”
This is part of the Facebook post written on Thursday (December 29) by Emina Buzinkic from Sisak, Croatia. The morning after, she and her entire family left Sisak looking for shelter in another city, as did many others.
“Today we sat on the meadow behind my house, while all being refugees. Once again. Perpetual refugees. Traumatized and somewhat resilient,”
– Emina Buzinkic, Sisak.
Emina came from the US, nine months ago, where she works and got stuck in her hometown due to the pandemic.
“Surviving earthquakes together feels similar to surviving the war. Much of what we have been experiencing over the past two days evokes memories of those times when fear and basic survival became the primary identity. Today we sat on the meadow behind my house, while all being refugees. Once again. Perpetual refugees. Traumatized and somewhat resilient,” she writes.
A magnitude 6.2 earthquake hit central Croatia on Monday (December 28), which was felt in nearby Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as Serbia and Slovenia, and parts of Italy. A 12-year-old girl was killed in Petrinja, Croatia while five more people have been discovered dead in the nearby town of Glina, and one more was found in the rubble of a church in Zazina. The search for the missing is still ongoing.
Many people are afraid to stay in their homes, and they stay outside, in shelters improvised in public buildings, sleeping in their cars, or just living in the area that is the most affected. According to the local media, hospitals in Sisak and other cities are struggling to deal with the cases of injured people.
Some areas are without electricity, due to infrastructure damage.
The web portal index.hr published a video by the Italian institute for geophysics and seismology showing how the waves of the earthquake spread across the region. They claim the power of the earthquake was 6.4 magnitude.
A solidarity network around the region has been created and help for people affected in Croatia is on its way from a number of countries, while the ground in Croatia and parts of Bosnia is still shaking.
The government in Croatia announced that January 2 will be a national day of sorrow.
This is the second time that a big earthquake has hit Croatia this year. The first time was on March 22, a 5,3 magnitude quake hit Zagreb, and was described as the strongest in the last 40 years.
Photos: Courtesy of Ajdin Kamber.
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- This story was originally written in English.