ZAGREB, 11 January, 2021 - An aftershock measuring 3.1 on the Richter scale rocked the Petrinja area at 9.35 a.m. on Monday, the Croatian Seismological Survey said.

A magnitude 3.9 aftershock jolted the area at half past midnight as well.

The Petrinja area was hit by a devastating magnitude 6.2 tremor on 29 December which killed seven and caused enormous damage.

ZAGREB, 10 January, 2021 - Croatian Foreign Minister Gordan Grlic Radman has said that Croatia and Croatian communities abroad have demonstrated such unity after recent earthquakes as they did in the 1991-1995 Homeland War, expressing satisfaction with the solidarity of EU member states.

"This shows that we can be together when it's most difficult. In such situations we are as one, Croatian hearts beat as one. During the earthquakes Croats were together just as they were in 1991," Grlic Radman said in an interview with the Mostar-based Bosnian Croat television channel Televizija Herceg-Bosne aired on Sunday.

He said that many Croats, Croatian organisations and Croatian Catholic missions abroad had responded a day after a magnitude 6.2 earthquake struck central Croatia on 29 December, opening special bank accounts and sending humanitarian aid.

"That's why we owe a debt of gratitude to the Croats abroad. We rely on each other when needed, here in particular we mean the Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina," Grlic Radman said.

He said that after the earthquake Croatia again became aware of the advantages of European Union membership.

"The level of solidarity is above expectations. Croatia can be pleased with how solidarity was shown because of the feeling that we are not alone," Grlic Radman said, stressing that many non-EU countries had also offered their assistance after the earthquake.

January 5, 2021 – The Croatian Geological Survey issued a statement on the recent earthquakes in Petrinja, Sisak, Glina, and the surrounding areas. To their knowledge, the activation of two mutually vertical fault systems caused the earthquakes.

Here is the entire press release of the Croatian Geological Survey (HGI).

The active tectonics of the entire area of Croatia, including the wider epicentral area of Pokupsko-Petrinja-Sisak, is caused by the continuous movement of the Adriatic lithospheric microplate (Adria) to the north. Therefore, in the upper parts of the Earth's crust, great strains occur at the contact of the Dinarides and the Pannonian Basin. When the strain reaches a critical level, individual faults from that system are (re)activated. There is a sudden movement of kilometers blocks of crust with dimensions of several hundred to thousands of cubic kilometers. As a result, a massive amount of energy is released, and earthquakes occur.

According to preliminary geological analyzes of Croatian Geological Survey's scientists and experts, based on geological maps, numerous field data published in the media, field prospecting, available seismological, and preliminary satellite data, the earthquake that hit Petrinja and its surroundings on December 28, 2020, activated the fault system in the underground of the broader area of Sisak, Petrinja, and Glina. (photo below)

Geological map of the Petrinja and Sisak area with highlighted main faults from activated fault systems that caused earthquakes on 28 and 29 December 2020. / Croatian Geological Survey

It is evident that it is the intersection of longitudinal and transverse faults on the extension of the Dinarides. Both fault systems consist of multiple faults with horizontal wing movement (strike-slip). One is the lesser-known fault, which on this occasion is marked as the left Petrinja fault, and the other is the better-known right Pokupsko fault. Such a fault system is a textbook example of deformations that occur in rock due to compression stress along the north-south axis.

Both fault systems are shown on the Basic Geological Map of the Republic of Croatia 1: 100,000, page Sisak, prepared by the Institute of Geology HGI (Pikija, 1987), and on the overview geological map of the Republic of Croatia 1: 300,000 (HGI, 2009). All geological maps covering the territory of the Republic of Croatia are available on request on the Croatian Geological Survey's website.

Due to a large amount of released energy during the movement of fault wings, ruptures in the rocks were manifested on the surface of the terrain, so in the wider epicentral area along fault lines, we find various surface manifestations of this movement and vibration of the terrain: open cracks and paraclasses, fluid spills, sand volcanoes due to liquefaction in the Kupa and Sava river basins, deformations of the surface of the terrain and infrastructural line facilities, and numerous other, hitherto unusual phenomena for our area, which can also cause various subsequent geohazard events. Part of the deformation of the terrain between Petrinja and Glina is probably due to the collapse of the underground corridors of the brown coal mines that operated in the first half of the 20th century and were not adequately rehabilitated (buried).

More data and details on the activated fault system will be available upon completing field research by the Croatian Geological Survey's teams.

Dr. sc. Tvrtko Korbar, scientific advisor of the Croatian Geological Survey

For more on the Petrinja earthquake and to see how you can donate money, food, humanitarian, sanitary and material aid, follow our dedicated section.

January 4, 2021 – No better technology or camera in the world could detect people under the rubble than search dogs. In the recent earthquake that hit Petrinja, Croatian search dogs found two people alive and thus saved their lives.

The earthquake that hit Petrinja, Sisak, Glina, and the surrounding area on December 29, 2020, caused enormous material damage that is still being added up. Along with 14 teams of the Croatian Mountain Rescue Service (HGSS), search dogs also searched for the missing in the ruins. Unfortunately, seven people lost their lives in the quake's rubble, but, thanks to search dogs, two were found alive.

Deputy Head of the Service and head of search teams Neven Putar Neno told Jutarnji list that there are no such mechanical means or cameras that could detect a person under the rubble as quickly as dogs.

"When it comes to saving human lives in such catastrophic conditions, the dog is the most important resource because it can detect a person under the rubble the fastest. We have an awful lot of actions, several times a week throughout the year, where dogs find people, live and, unfortunately, dead," said Putar.

He also points out what all rescuers say – a successful search is not the result of any individual or individual dog's work, but the entire team. Along with HGSS and firefighters, members of KOSPP, the Zagreb club for training search dogs, were also on the field.

Dog barking already tells if a person is alive or dead

Stjepan Gal, a ranger in the Nature Park Papuk and HGSS member, arrived with his dog at the quake-hit area at 4 p.m. As he says, the scenes they saw were unreal. Gal and his dog Adi were in the village of Žažina, where the local church collapsed.

At the time of the quake, parishioners who had come to clear up the damage caused by the less devastating earthquake the day before were in the church. When it shook at 12.20, most of them managed to escape from the building, but one person did not. Beneath the ruins remained a trapped organist who was cleaning his instrument, the organ. Unfortunately, by the time Gal arrived, it was already clear that he was unfortunately dead, and the dog Adi confirmed this with his barking at 6:46 p.m.

Search dog Adi / Photo: Stjepan Gal Facebook

Namely, as Gal says, when a person is found alive, Adi barks happily, and when a person is dead, he is upset and sad and has a specific bark, akin to a  growl.

In addition to HGSS members, alpinists and speleologists from Split and firefighters were also at the location. They had to flee the church several times because the ground was shaking all the time, and there was a danger that the rest of the church would collapse on them.

From asylum to HGSS rescue team

The HGSS team from Karlovac, led by Dubravko Butala, also recently arrived in Petrinja. Kruno Stipetić from Ogulin entered the Petrinja City Hall with his dog Draco, where it was suspected that one person was buried under the rubble. Draco signaled that there was a living person inside. Already by the frequency of his barking, Stipetić knows how to recognize whether a person is alive or dead.

Draco is a Belgian Shepherd, seven and a half years old. They wanted to put him to sleep, but Stipetić believed in him, and the dog eventually found and rescued the woman trapped in the rubble.

"When I got him from the asylum, he was aggressive, and everyone said I would fail, but I believed in him. He knows it, and now he's giving me back all the effort. Today, the two of us are called to about 80 percent of Croatia's search operations because we are a perfectly coordinated team. We think and work as one person," says Stipetić.

Search dog Draco / Photo: Kruno Stipetić Facebook

Stipetić also says that search teams have a great responsibility. They are the ones who, after inspecting the ruins, establish that there is no one inside and suspend the further search.

"There is no room for error because human lives are at stake," says Stipetić.

'Saving human lives is our biggest motivation'

Dubravko Butala Bana, an HGSS member with forty years of experience, arrived in Majske Poljane, where the scenes were horrific – the village disappeared in a matter of seconds. His dog Thor first discovered two dead people under the rubble of a house.

According to Butala, unlike some other search dogs, his Toho does not bark differently when he smells a living or dead person. "But he feels my vibe, feels when I'm sad or upset," Butala says.

Dubravko and his search dog Thor / Screenshot HRT

While they were at the first house with the victims, they were informed that there were missing people in another ruin. They hurried there.

"Grandparents were under the ruins. Grandpa was sadly dead, but grandma was alive. As we dug her up, we talked to her, and we checked her pulse. We managed to get her out, and that's our biggest reward. That's why we do this job. Us HGSS members are volunteers, and the saved human life is our biggest motivation," says Butala, who tells us that a dog can smell one human molecule under all those ruins.

Crying comes later

Zoran Laslavić is a firefighter from Opatija who set off to Petrinja immediately after the earthquake, along with his search dog Rain and with a team of firefighters from the Primorje-Gorski Kotar County.

"The search with dogs is just one part of the job we do. The dog is always with me and, if the need arises, that is, when there is a suspicion that we have a missing person, then we go in search, and we do all the other work all the time. Although, as firefighters, we see everything, we have never seen anything like this before," says Laslavić on the situation in Petrinja.

Firefighters Zoran Laslavić (left) and Zoran Ravnić (right) with their dogs / Photo: Zoran Laslavić Facebook

Firefighters are relatively new to working with dogs, compared to HGSS. Laslavić was the initiator of introducing search dogs into firefighters' work in the search for the missing. Today, the service of teams with search dogs has been established, and there are more and more of them all over Croatia. Laslavić is an instructor and leads the training of these dogs in Šapjane.

His wife is also a firefighter and has a search dog, but she did not go to Petrinja. They got a baby a year ago, and their dog Rain adores it.

The search and rescue for missing people was a very emotional experience for all those involved, and they also comforted and helped those who survived. As they work and save lives, rescuers don't think about all that tragedy around them. Emotions come only later when they come home and relax. Then they often cry.

For more on the Petrinja earthquake and to see how you can donate money, food, humanitarian, sanitary and material aid, follow our dedicated section.

ZAGREB, 4 January, 2021 - It is estimated that the earthquake insurance premium at the end of 2020 will total around HRK 110 million, up 28% on the year, the Croatian Chamber of Commerce (HGK) said on Monday.

The devastating earthquakes which hit Croatia last year have caused over HRK 100 billion worth of damage and many people have lost their properties, so it is not surprising that after the tremor which struck Zagreb and its environs in March there was an increase in earthquake insurance, the HGK said, adding that the tremors which struck Sisak-Moslavina County last week will certainly further raise people's awareness of the need for earthquake insurance.

It is estimated that the number of insurance policies by the end of last year will have risen to 140,000, up 30% from 2019, the HGK said, adding that the average earthquake insurance premium was HRK 800.

The HGK said that although the property insurance premium was rising, it amounted to €48 per capita, far below the EU average of €168.

The big disproportion of investing in property insurance in Croatia is especially worrying considering that besides Greece, Turkey, North Macedonia and Italy, Croatia is in tectonically the riskiest part of Europe, the HGK said.

After the March 2020 earthquake, insurance companies paid HRK 237.5 million and processed 7,269 damages claims by the end of November, the HGK said, adding that the Zagreb quake showed that an extremely low percentage of apartment buildings had earthquake insurance.

(€1 = HRK 7.5)

ZAGREB, 4 January, 2021 - Sisak-Moslavina County head Ivo Zinic said on Sunday that the state of disaster should definitely be declared following the 6.2 magnitude earthquake that hit the county on December 29.

"The county head can only declare a state of emergency following natural disasters based on assessments by the towns and communities affected. I believe this earthquake was much more destructive and that the state of disaster should be declared," Zinic told the N1 broadcaster.

The December 29 earthquake claimed seven lives and caused extensive material damage in the areas of Petrinja and Sisak in Sisak-Moslavina County.

Zinic noted that the insufficient quantity of container homes and camper vans was the main problem at present.

"We have received 13,272 requests and inspected 3,972 facilities. There are around 250 camper vans in the field and the needs are much greater. We expect 1,500 mobile homes to be necessary. Their installation will take ten more days because we can install 20-50 mobile homes per day," he said.

The HAC motorway operator said on Sunday that it would not be collecting the road toll on the Zagreb-Sisak motorway until January 31.

HAC stopped collecting the road toll on December 29 to enable emergency services to reach the quake-hit communities in Sisak-Moslavina County, deciding initially not to collect it until January 4.

ZAGREB, 3 January, 2021 - Of the 19 cities and municipalities in Sisak-Moslavina County, Petrinja, Glina, Sisak and Lekenik suffered the biggest damage, and Donji Kukuzari, Sunja, Hrvatska Kostajnica, Majur, Dvor, Topusko, Gvozd and Marinska Ves sustained extensive damage in the 29 December quake.

The county prefect Ivo Zinic explained on Sunday that so far, the damage was reported on 8,928 buildings and structures.

Of them, 20% are buildings completely destroyed or out of use anymore. Also, a quarter of the inspected buildings will need additional checks, and 54% of buildings checked by experts received a green label, which means that they can be used.

Reports on damaged buildings are still being received and the number of destroyed and damaged buildings will definitely rise, the prefect said at a news conference.

We have set up five mobile teams that are visiting settlements and villages to establish a state of affairs and see what the population needs, he added.

"A difficult situation is ahead of us, people are depressed, we will also organise psychological assistance," Zinic said.

825 small businesses, a third of family-run farms suffer damage by quake

Of 2,000 small businesses in the county, 825 have reported extensive damage, he said.

Furthermore, 700 companies and 3,000 out of 9,000 family-run farms have also sustained damage, he said.

When it comes to educational institutions, out of the 13 secondary schools in the county, six are unusable, and a preschool institution in Petrinja was destroyed.

Retirement homes in the area were also evacuated.

All healthcare institutions are providing services, although some of them are now placed in containers.

On 29 December, the earthquake measuring 6.2 on the Richter scale, that hit the area of Petrinja, some 50 kilometres south of Zagreb, killed seven people in the county, and a number of people were injured.

"The intensity of this destructive earthquake has been estimated at VII-IX degrees on the EMS scale. The quake was felt across the country. Large-scale damage is expected," the Croatian Seismology Service said on its Twitter profile immediately after the quake.

ZAGREB, 3 January, 2021 - An earthquake measuring 2.7 on the Richter scale shook Zagreb at 0919 hours Sunday, the Croatian Seismological Survey said on Sunday morning.

The epicentre of the quake was in the northern residential area of Remete, and the intensity in the epicentre was III-IV degrees on the EMS scale.

Residents in the city and its environs felt the tremor.

January 3, 2021 – Just two days after a devastating earthquake hit Croatia, five Croatian musicians showed their big hearts and released a song of support titled "Svi smo uz vas" (We are all with you), dedicated to all earthquake victims, to whom the copyright proceeds will be donated.

The quake that hit the Croatian towns of Petrinja, Sisak, Glina, and surrounding villages on Tuesday, encouraged many volunteers to help, but also some musicians. Desiring to give their contribution with a song, musicians Ivan Zak, Tiho Orlić, Mario Budiščak, Tomislav Priher, and Denis Ferjanić quickly gathered and recorded a song with the symbolic title Svi smo uz vas "(We are all with you).

"It is not enough to say that 2020 was challenging. We were alternately beaten by illness, earthquake, crisis, and this week's earthquakes in Petrinja, Sisak, Glina, and the surrounding area rounded off the unfortunate summary. They wrapped us in black, but also encouraged unity, kindness, and humanity," Ivan Zak told Večernji list.

However, in addition to their support being expressed through music, all copyright proceeds will go to earthquake victims.

"Along with material help, us musicians give our contribution to a song. I wrote this song to try to convey strength and optimism to people in such horrible moments of life. I sang it together with my colleagues Tiho Orlić, Mario Budiščak, Tomislav Priher, Denis Ferjanić," says Zak.

Domagoj Marijan signs the arrangement of the song, and Hit Records released it. Apart from Ivan Zak, other Croatian musicians have recently joined humanitarian and volunteer actions, helping in the field. Many others also appealed for help on their social networks. Singer Lana Jurčević even created a Facebook support group because, as she says, she received hundreds and hundreds of requests to publish information for help.

For more on the Petrinja earthquake and to see how you can donate money, food, humanitarian, sanitary, and material aid, follow TCN's dedicated section.

ZAGREB, 2 January, 2021 - The Croatian Red Cross (HCK) said on Saturday that over the past three days they had distributed more than 129 tonnes of food in earthquake-hit areas as well as 50,000 litres of water and 21,000 hot meals.

They have also provided 172 heaters, 650 blankets, 39 generators, 700 packets of food and necessities for children as well as ensuring psychosocial support for 1,600 people.

The HCK has also opened two more locations in Petrinja for the accommodation of the people affected, including a service for tracing the missing and psychosocial support.

By 1 January, HRK 36.4 million was donated by physical and legal entities to help those affected by Tuesday's earthquake. Donations are still being collected. A donor line has received 69,169 calls bringing HRK 432,300.

(€1 = HRK 7.5)