My1sttoday: Croatia earthquake: at least 6 killed, dozens injured. A 6.3 magnitude earthquake rocked central Croatia on Tuesday, the second one in the past two days, killing at least six people and injuring dozens of others, according to local authorities.
The European Mediterranean Seismological Center reported that Tuesday’s earthquake first hit about 6:20 a.m. ET, causing major damage to the town of Petrinja, located about 28 miles southeast of the Mediterranean country’s capital of Zagreb.
The quake was followed by a series of aftershocks, some of which were captured in footage shared on Twitter from a press conference and live news report.
DEVELOPING: Cameras were rolling as aftershocks rocked central Croatia during a press conference and a live news report from the street on the 6.3 magnitude earthquake that has left at least six people dead, including a 12-year-old girl. More tonight. https://t.co/e31HLWjvwL pic.twitter.com/j5Xh5F5k45
— World News Tonight (@ABCWorldNews) December 29, 2020
According to The Associated Press, debris filled the streets as buildings collapsed, with one woman found alive some four hours after the quake.
Authorities said that among those who died was a 12-year-old girl from Petrinja, a town of roughly 25,000 people.
According to the Croatian public broadcasting service, HRT, another five people were killed in a nearby village and at least 20 people were taken to the hospital. Two of those hospitalized are in serious condition, authorities said.
The AP reported that the same area was hit by a 5.2 quake Monday.
The US. Geological Survey called Tuesday’s natural disaster “the largest earthquake to occur in Croatia since the advent of modern seismic instrumentation,” adding that a similar-sized earthquake hit Zagreb in 1880.
The AP noted that while Croatia is prone to earthquakes as a Mediterranean country, large ones are rather rare, with the last strong quake destroying the Adriatic coast village of Ston in the 1990s.