Destroyed houses and a car are seen on a street after an earthquake in Petrinja, Croatia, on December 29, 2020. (Photo by Reuters)

An earthquake of magnitude 6.4 struck central Croatia on Tuesday, killing seven people, injuring more than 20 and rattling several neighboring countries, officials and residents said.

Rescuers pulled people from the rubble of collapsed buildings in Petrinja and other towns, and army troops were sent to the area to help. Tremors were also felt in Croatia’s capital, Zagreb, and as far away as Austria’s capital, Vienna. Slovenia shut its only nuclear power plant as a precaution. It was the second quake to strike the area in two days.

The GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences said it hit at 1119 GMT at a depth of 10 km, with the epicenter in Petrinja, 50 km south of Zagreb.

By now, in the vicinity of the town of Glina, we have five fatalities. Together with a (12-year-old) girl from Petrinja, there are altogether six dead, Deputy Prime Minister Tomo Medved said while visiting Glina.

State news agency Hina, citing firefighters, later reported that a seventh victim had been found in the rubble of a church in the village of Zazina. Police said at least 20 people were slightly injured and six more severely wounded in the temblor.

The quake was also felt in Zagreb, where people rushed onto the streets, some of which were strewn with broken roof tiles and other debris.

Patients and medical staff were evacuated from Zagreb’s Sveti Duh Hospital, with many left sitting in chairs in the street wrapped in blankets.

In Austria’s second city, Graz, about 200 km north of Petrinja, tall buildings wobbled for about two minutes, according to broadcaster ORF. In Carinthia Province, about 300 km to the northwest of Petrinja, the earth trembled for several minutes and people described how their furniture, Christmas trees and lamps wobbled.

In Slovenia, the STA news agency said the country’s sole nuclear power plant, 100 km from the epicenter, was shut down as a precaution.

Croatia’s state news agency Hina said the quake was felt in a total of 12 countries. Interior Minister Davor Bozinovic said Croatia was expecting help from the European Union as it had activated its emergency situation mechanism.

A day earlier on Monday, a magnitude 5.2 earthquake hit central Croatia, also near Petrinja. In March, a temblor of magnitude 5.3 rattled Zagreb, causing one death and injuring 27 people.

(Source: Reuters)