A New Month, A New Catastrophe: Zagreb Hit By An Earthquake
At 06:24 this morning, Zagreb, the capital of Croatia, was hit by an earthquake of 5.4 in magnitude.
And then, a second at 07:01.
Amid the current COVID-19 pandemic, this natural disaster could have not come at a worse time. And no, there is never a “right time” for such a natural hazard.
Some hospitals had to be evacuated, leaving patients to group outdoor, and not being able to respect the implemented social distancing rule, in order to stop people from spreading the virus.
Citizens explain:
“I live in Zagreb and I felt it.” — Paulina.
Paulina explains: “I was woken up by it, it was crazy, our country never has earthquakes. People aren't used to it so they are panicking.”
She continues: “It was a scary experience. The worst is in the centre, all the old buildings are falling apart.”
“There are rumours of a 15-year-old died some say he is fighting for his life.” — Paulina
“A maternity ward was really affected, mothers with their newborns are standing in front of the hospital in the cold. It sucks. The public transport was cancelled,” she says.
“Yes, I felt it, I was woken up by it at 6:25. It was surreal.” — Emina
“It’s the strongest one I ever felt. I live in a really good building (it was built in 1972, after big quakes in Macedonia), the walls are made of reinforced concrete, with steel etc. However, at that moment, they looked like strings to me, moving and bending. I wasn’t even sure if I was dreaming or not,” Emina says.
She continues: “I am very lucky, I live in Novi Zagreb (New Zagreb, on the other side of the river Sava). A couple of things fell off the shelves. Nothing fell off the walls. Some neighbours later told me that it was a bit more of that in their places, but that was it.”
“Electricity is still out (a bit of shame for my fridge, since I stocked up due corona).” — Emina
Emina adds: “People were gathering, I tried to avoid that, I had my mask on. Another one hit again while we were out, but it didn’t seem that scary.”
“The city centre looks horrible. Bricks are falling, walls were torn down, it almost looks like Zagreb was bombed,” she says.
“I felt it early morning, when everything started to shake, it woke me up.” — Enea
“I was in bed waiting to make sure nothing would fall on me before calmly go under the corners of a door, as I usually do during earthquakes,” Enea explains.
She says: “Hospitals were the most affected because they are very old buildings. Now, streets are full of debris and some cars are destroyed.”
“It was terrible. I was at my boyfriends’ apartment near Maksimir Park & the whole building was shaking.” — Karla
Karla adds: “The shelves fell, almost everything that was made of glass was broken, houseplants were everywhere around the floor. And also a huge wall picture, which had fallen right besides me on the bed and actually woke me up.”
She continues: “As soon as the first wave had passed, we left the building running in our pyjamas and there was already a crowd of people in front of it and a lot of them came afterwards.”
“Parents with crying children and their stuffed animals, people with pets (dogs, cats, hamsters etc.), even an old lady with 4 cats who could barely walk and others were helping her to go as far away from the building as possible…” she says.
“The scenario was just so apocalyptic.” — Karla
Reports of the earthquake being felt as far as from Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia and a city approximately 200 km away from Zagreb, were made.
Confusing instructions from the government were made, leaving people not knowing whether they should stay in quarantine indoors, or stay outside while trying their best to keep social distancing.
As serious damages were made to the city, Zagreb’s cathedral was run-down, as its turret fell down.
One might wonder, how many billionaires will help rebuild Zagreb’s 114-year-old cathedral this time?
This article might be updated with more testimonies…
If you live in Zagreb, share your story with me: a.oldereide@gmail.com
