Girl among seven killed as strong earthquake hits Croatia

A strong earthquake has hit central Croatia, destroying buildings and sending panicked people fleeing into rubble-covered streets in a town south east of the capital Zagreb.

Authorities said at least seven people were killed and at least 20 were injured.

The European Mediterranean Seismological Centre said a magnitude 6.3 earthquake hit 46 kilometres (28 miles) south east of Zagreb.

Reports said it caused widespread damage in the hardest-hit town of Petrinja.

The same area was struck by a 5.2 quake on Monday.

Officials said a 12-year-old girl died in Petrinja, a town of some 25,000 people.

Another six people were killed in villages near the town, according to the state HRT television.

At least 20 people were admitted to hospital, two with serious injuries, officials said, adding that many more people are unaccounted for.

In Petrinja, cries could be heard from underneath destroyed houses.

One woman was found alive some four hours after the quake.

Emergency teams used rescue dogs while looking for survivors, while family members looked on in despair.

“The centre of Petrinja as it used to be no longer exists,” Croatia’s state HRT television reported, saying people remained inside collapsed buildings.

“My town has been completely destroyed. We have dead children,” Petrinja mayor Darinko Dumbovic said in a statement broadcast by HRT TV.

“This is like Hiroshima – half of the city no longer exists.”

Croatian prime minister Andrej Plenkovic and other government ministers arrived in Petrinja after the earthquake.

“The biggest part of central Petrinja is in a red zone, which means that most of the buildings are not usable,” Mr Plenkovic said.

He said the army has 500 places ready in barracks to house people, while others will be accommodated in nearby hotels and other available places.

“No-one must stay out in the cold tonight,” the prime minister said.

Officials later toured a damaged hospital in the nearby town of Sisak, which was also badly hit by the earthquake.

Mr Plenkovic said the hospital’s patients will be evacuated in army helicopters and in ambulances.

Health officials said a baby was delivered in a tent in front of the hospital in the aftermath of the earthquake.

European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said on Twitter that she had spoken to Mr Plenkovic and instructed an envoy to travel to Croatia as soon as possible.

As a Mediterranean country, Croatia is prone to earthquakes, but not big ones.

The last strong quake struck in the 1990s when the picturesque Adriatic coast village of Ston was destroyed.

Regional TV channel N1 reported live on Tuesday from Petrinja that a collapsed building had fallen on a car.

The footage showed firefighters trying to remove the debris to reach the car, which was buried underneath.

A man and a small boy were eventually rescued from the car and carried into an ambulance.

Fallen bricks and dust littered the streets, and many houses were completely destroyed.

The Croatian military was deployed in Petrinja to help with the rescue operation.

Croatian seismologist Kresimir Kuk described the earthquake as “extremely strong”, far stronger than another one that hit Zagreb and nearby areas in the spring.

He warned people to keep out of potentially shaky, old buildings and to move to the newer areas of the city because of the aftershocks.

In the capital, people ran out into the streets and parks in fear.

Many were reportedly leaving Zagreb, ignoring a travel ban imposed because of the coronavirus outbreak.

The earthquake was felt throughout the country and in neighbouring Serbia, Bosnia and Slovenia.

It was even felt as far away as Graz in southern Austria, the Austria Press Agency reported.

Authorities in Slovenia said the Krsko nuclear power plant was temporarily shut down following the earthquake.

The power plant is jointly owned by Slovenia and Croatia and located near their border.