The earthquake struck the Balkan country at 12:20 pm local time (6:20 am ET), and its epicenter was located 44 kilometers (27 miles) southeast of the capital Zagreb, according to the European-Mediterranean Seismological Center (EMSC). The Croatian government-owned news agency, HINA, previously reported that the earthquake had a magnitude of 6.3.
EMSC said it was the biggest earthquake to hit Croatia so far this year, adding that it could “do significant damage over close epicenter distances”.
Darinko Dumbović, the mayor of Petrinja, requested emergency aid.
Dumbović was giving a press conference before the earthquake. In the footage of the event, a thunderous sound can be heard when the earthquake begins, followed by confused shouts from the participants. The camera then appears to fall to the floor.
Photographs of Petrinja showed the collapsed roof of a building and a car crushed by debris.
“My city has been completely destroyed,” Dumbović told CNN’s Croatian affiliate N1 in an emotional plea for support. “We have a dead child. I can’t describe it.”
“We need firefighters, we don’t know what’s below the surface. The roof of a car has fallen, we need help, ”he added.
In a previous interview with N1, Dumbović described scenes of “panic” after the quake. “There is panic, people are looking for their loved ones,” he said.
“We are taking people out of cars, we don’t know if they died or were injured. I heard that a kindergarten collapsed, but fortunately there were no children there, while in another the children managed to escape “added the mayor.
Army deployed
Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said the military would be deployed to support emergency services in the area, while HINA reported that personnel were already on the ground in Petrinja, helping residents and clearing debris.
“It is a tragedy, but everyone is here and we will provide all possible help,” said the prime minister in a tweet.
The Arena sports gym in Zagreb, which has been transformed into an emergency care center for patients with coronavirus, will also start receiving patients with coronavirus from Sisak-Moslavina County, which was affected by the earthquake, HINA said.