December 29, 2020 – Just after midday on 29th December 2020, yet another powerful Zagreb earthquake has shaken the buildings and streets of the Croatian capital

Just 24 hours after a second large earthquake shook the Croatian capital in 2020, yet another large Zagreb earthquake has visited city residents. The large tremor took place just after midday and sent the city's citizens into the streets, fleeing shaking buildings from which masonry fell. Dust filled the air outside. Everyone is thankful for having their COVID masks. The situation at the epicentre of the earthquake, just over 40 kilometres from Zagreb, is much worse.

A 5.5 magnitude earthquake hit the capital yesterday, its epicentre located in Petrinje. The Zagreb earthquake of 29 December 2020 was even bigger - it measured 6.3 - its epicentre also in the area of Petrinja and Glina in Sisak Moslavina County. This means that the three largest Zagreb earthquakes to have taken place over the last 100 years have happened in 2020.

City residents ran out onto the streets after this earthquake

This Petrinja/Zagreb earthquake took place 44 - 46 kilometres southeast of Zagreb. Hundreds of smaller aftershocks were felt over the 24 hours in the Petrinje area. The Petrinja/Zagreb earthquake of 29 December 2020 didn't feel like any of the hundreds of aftershocks that have visited Croatia since the large earthquake in the start of the year - this was much more like the first. Damage to Zagreb from the first major earthquake of 2020 is estimated to have already cost the city in excess of 11 billion Euros. That first major tremor occurred early in the morning, while people were still in bed - the Coronavirus lockdown meant everyone was inside their homes

Office workers and people going about their daily lives ran out onto Heizelova to escape the shaking buildings and the dust that filled the air

At the time of publishing, no details had yet reached TCN in regards to casualties from the earthquake of 29 December. No casualties were recorded from the previous day's earthquake. EDIT: Less than an hour after the earthquake, it was reported that sadly a child died in the Petrinja area as a result of the earthquake. Later in the day, a further five fatalities were sadly confirmed.

This is a developing news story and Total Croatia News will be updating its coverage as more information reaches us

ZAGREB, Dec 28, 2020 - There are no casualties at the epicentre of the first of this morning's earthquakes, in Pokupsko municipality, and initial estimates show that the damage to property is minimal, the deputy head of the municipal civil protection team, Jura Skender, told Hina on Monday.

A magnitude 5.0 earthquake struck the area at 6.28 am on Monday. It was followed by two more tremors at 7.49 and 7.51, one measuring 4.7 and the other 4.1 on the Richter scale, with the epicentre 5 km southeast of Petrinja, about 60 km southeast of Zagreb.

There have been no reports of damage to the local primary school. However, an outside staircase detached itself from the children's daycare centre, but there were no children inside at the time of the earthquake, Skender said.

The local church, dating from the 18th century, has also suffered some damage, but at this point it is hard to assess how serious the damage is, he added.

The Sisak Diocese said on its Facebook page on Monday that several churches, chapels and parish houses had suffered substantial damage in the earthquakes. It did not specify the buildings.

Skender said that local residents can report damage on a dedicated telephone number.

He said that Deputy Prime Minister and Veterans' Minister Tomo Medved and Economy Minister Darko Horvat would visit the municipality in the afternoon.

ZAGREB, Dec 28, 2020 - European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Monday expressed readiness to help Croatia and told it to stay strong after three strong earthquakes rocked the country this morning.

"Stay strong Croatia! After a powerful earthquake struck this morning, the EU_Commission is in contact with Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic and the Croatian authorities. We are following the situation closely and stand ready to help," she tweeted.

Plenkovic thanked von der Leyen and the Commission, saying that Croatia appreciated their support.

"It will be vital as we work to rebuild Sisak, Petrinja and the Sisak-Moslavina County, just as we also cooperate on reconstructing Zagreb after the March earthquake," he tweeted.

Central Croatia between Zageb and Sisak was rocked by a magnitude 5.0 earthquake at 6.28 a.m. Two more quakes struck the Petrinja area around 7.50 a.m., one measuring 4.7 and the other 4.1 on the Richter scale.

ZAGREB, Dec 28, 2020 - Civil Protection director Damir Trut said on Monday nine structural engineers went to Sisak and Petrinja to assess the state of buildings following this morning's strong earthquakes.

Speaking to the press, Trut said "all human resources," including firefighters and Civil Protection members, "are on the ground, assisting the population. There is no major construction damage and no one has been injured."

153,000 passes for intra-county travel issued

Speaking of passes for travel between counties that have been introduced as part of COVID-19 measures, Trut said the civil protection authorities of the City of Zagreb, Zagreb County and Sisak-Moslavina County were advised to prioritise applications from people who needed to check the state of their property or visit relatives after the quakes.

He added that applicants must comply with COVID measures.

Trust said more than 153,000 passes had been issued to date. He added that 148,000 applications had been made via the e-Propusnica system, with 80,000 granted and 65,000 rejected, as well as 150,000 via e-mail, with 73,000 passes issued.

December 28, 2020 – President Zoran Milanovic and Prime Minister Andrej Plenković visited Sisak and Petrinja after a series of earthquakes hit the area this morning.

This morning, around 6.28 am, the area of Sisak and Petrinja was hit by a 5,2 magnitude earthquake. After a few weaker tremors, just before 8 am, two stronger blows followed, with magnitudes of 4.7 and 4.1 on the Richter scale.

President Zoran Milanović and Prime Minister Andrej Plenković came to Sisak and Petrinja to support their fellow citizens. Prefect of Sisak-Moslavina County Ivo Žinić and Mayor of Sisak Kristina Ikić Baniček informed them of the situation in Sisak.

They were accompanied by Deputy Prime Ministers and Ministers Davor Božinović and Tomo Medved, as well as Minister of Physical Planning, Construction and State Assets Darko Horvat and Minister of Health Vili Beroš.

'No house in the villages that are not damaged'

Žinić said there are no casualties.

"No one was injured, there is no damage to industrial plants, but the Gavrilović factory has a large amount of ammonia, and it will have to be checked in detail. The damage is in the center of Sisak on buildings. Plaster has fallen off, bricks have fallen on some buildings. The second earthquake did more damage. The first one seems to have moved some things a bit, and there is no house in the villages that are not damaged. The damage is not even close to the damage that was in Zagreb, but it is the roofs where people live," said Sisak-Moslavina County Prefect Ivo Žinić.

Mayor Ikić Baniček said there had been over 100 firefighter interventions since the morning. They had one situation where they had to place one family in another facility because their apartment was damaged.

Prime Minister Plenković emphasized that all services will be available to the citizens and said that luckily the earthquake did not leave any major damage.

"I am glad that we are here. We came to support our fellow citizens. As the year was, so it ended. Here is the Civil Protection, the Croatian army, and they will help. I also spoke to the Mayor of Zagreb, Milan Bandić. We already have experience. We will try to list the damages and help everyone to repair those damages," said the Prime Minister.

'We are here to help'

Milanović and Plenković toured Sisak and Petrinja together.

"The damage is significant in the buildings we visited, but the most important thing is that no one was injured. This was a pretty strong earthquake, and it's good that the aftershocks were less intense," said Plenković after visiting Petrinja.

He promised to create a legal framework to help the affected areas.

"We hope that it will be better next year. The state will react, of course. We are here to help," Plenković said.

President Milanović was not in the mood for statements.

"It was uncomfortable in Zagreb. It is human to be afraid. Fear is the biggest blow to people. And what was destroyed will be rebuilt. It is a smaller problem," Milanović said.

The Mayor of Petrinja, Darinko Dumbović, told them that he expects help from the state in repairing the damage, namely the "millions in his account tomorrow. "

Plenković said they would try to help Sisak, Petrinja, and other municipalities in Sisak-Moslavina County affected by the earthquake with all aid services.

"I hope that it will be better next year. I guess everything that should have happened badly happened in 2020," the Prime Minister concluded and expressed his condolences to all those whose houses were damaged.

Sources: Večernji.hr, Jutarnji.hr, Dnevnik.hr

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ZAGREB, Dec 11, 2020 - Zagreb's University Hospital Centre (KBC) has been awarded the Ocar of Medicine for its outstanding achievement in medicine and outstanding efforts by medical staff at the Women's Hospital in taking care of patients, particularly premature babies during a strong earthquake in Zagreb in March.

With their selfless efforts medical staff and volunteers managed to transfer premature babies in incubators and their mothers to safety, it was said during the presentation ceremony.

The medical staff at the hospital were honoured for their expertise, organisation skills and huge solidarity shown.

International Medis Awards, better known as the Oscar of Medicine, have been given for seven years to the best doctors and pharmaceutical researchers for their work and achievements.

The KBC Zagreb also received a donation from the Medis pharmaceutical company, namely a device for UV-C decontamination of surfaces, which came just in time during the coronavirus pandemic.

The head of the neonatal ward in the Petrova Women's Hospital, Mirta Starcevic, recalled that there were 26 premature babies in the hospital when the earthquake struck on March 22, eight of them weighing less than 1.5 kilograms.

"That night a premature baby weighing 1,500 grams was born with numerous complications. When the earthquake struck we had to evacuate the building and the biggest problem was how to maintain the children's body temperature. All the doctors who were not on duty that day immediately came to the hospital. I have to say that the situation resembled a proper war zone. The thing that we are most proud of and pleased with is that we did not lose any of the babies in those circumstances, which is absolutely unbelievable," nurse Starcevic said.

The International Media Awards are annual awards presented for the best research by doctors and pharmacists in nine countries: Croatia, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Montenegro, Hungary, North Macedonia, Slovenia and Serbia.

December 9, 2020 – It's been a funny old year. Funny as in unusual. Not so much funny haha. The extraordinary nature of the year is reflected in the most-popular Croatia Google search list for 2020, which has just been published. This year's searches hold a stark contrast to last year's.

In 2019, the end-of-year list for Croatia Google search was dominated by results for sporting fixtures, celebrities and entertainment. Although the EU election results and the long-running teacher's strike in Croatia also scored highly in 2019, this year has been dominated by searches of an even more serious and pressing nature.

It will come as no surprise to anyone that the number one Croatia Google search for 2020 was Coronavirus. The global pandemic is likely to top lists all over the world. In this country, its ramifications also created several other high-ranking inclusions on the Croatia Google search list 2020.

Software Google Classroom and Office 365 za škole also feature in the top 10 Croatia Google search list 2020, as parents and students coped with the closure of teaching institutions and prepared to learn and receive lectures online. Another piece of online tech that features in the top 10 was ePropusnica, the travel pass required for inter-regional travel and international travel by car during the various stages of lockdown. If these results are anything to go by, Coronavirus has dominated the lives of Croatians in 2020.

Another big Croatia Google search term in 2020 was Zagreb earthquake. For anyone in Zagreb at the time of the first large tremor, this will also come as little surprise – it was the biggest earthquake experienced for 100 years in Croatia, and it came without warning. Though lasting just a few seconds, there was no reaction more immediate than that of city residents, who ran out into the streets partially clothed. Thousands must have searched the term to find out what was happening, and also after many of the hundreds of aftershocks that have followed.

Here's the list of biggest Croatia Google search terms in 2020

The most-popular Croatia Google search terms in 2020

1. Koronavirus
2. Google Classroom
3. Office 365 za škole
4. Potres Zagreb (Earthquake Zagreb)
5. Kobe Bryant
6. ePropusnica
7. Izbori SAD (US elections)
8. DIP
9. Joe Biden
10. Masoni (Masons)

The most-popular Croatia Google search apps in 2020

1. ePropusnice
2. Zoom
3. Andrija

The most-popular Croatia Google search events in 2020

1. Potres (Earthquake)
2. Izbori SAD (US elections)
3. Izbori (elections) 

Aside from the inclusion of the Masons (freemasons), the list is understandable on an international level. It perhaps tells us something about how Croatians use the search engine and how well they respect it as a source for delivering credible information. With Coronavirus vaccines now announced and, all hope, the biggest potential earthquake out of the way, for now, it's understandable for most Croatians to be looking forward to the return of more trivial matters dominating their Google searches in 2021.

November 1, 2020 – Northern Dalmatia has been hit with a strong tremor today, the earthquake in Zadar was estimated to have measured 4.7 on the Richter scale

A strong earthquake has this afternoon shaken the residents of north Dalmatia. The earthquake in Zadar occurred at 2.15 pm on Sunday 1 November. The epicentre of the earthquake in Zadar was 16 kilometres to the northwest of Posedarje municipality and occurred at a depth of 10 kilometers.

The earthquake in Zadar was felt across much of Dalmatia. Residents of Zadar County would have been settling down to Sunday lunch or preparing to visit local cemeteries on All Saints Day as the strong tremor struck. The duration of the earthquake was approximately four to five seconds.

Index media reported their readers had felt the tremor on the islands of Pag, Prvić and Iž, in the city of Split and even in Bihać in Bosnia and Hercegovina. The European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre were contacted by people from Gospić, Sveti Rok, Biograd na Moru, Knin, Solin, Omiš, and even Karlovac who felt the earthquake.

Today's Zadar earthquake is the latest in a series of hundreds of instances of seismic activity that have taken place in Croatia during 2020. The largest earthquake to have shaken the country in over one hundred years took place at 6:25 am on 22 March 2020. The epicentre of that earthquake was around seven kilometres tp the north-east of the centre of Zagreb and the earthquake was measured at a magnitude of 5.5. The Croatian capital and some of its surrounding villages are still dealing with the aftermath.

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October 29, 2020 - TCN joins Zagreb Volunteers Centre in Čučerje to find out who are the Zagreb volunteers and why they do what they do. Čučerje is a semi-rural community which lies at the epicentre of the March 2020 earthquake.

By the time we ran out of the building, the first tremor had stopped. At 6:25am, the asphalt road lay quiet and motionless. People in pyjamas, nightgowns or underwear stood on the pavement. Others emerged even later. Although masonry in other parts of the city continued to fall, the 5.5 magnitude earthquake that visited Zagreb on 22 March 2020 was over. It had lasted much less than a minute. Its repercussions would last much longer.

Damage to a Zagreb city-centre building in the 2020 earthquake © Franjo Tahy

The tragic news of a fatality filtered through the media several hours later, as did pictures of the devastation visited upon the Croatian capital's buildings. Some of its oldest were hit particularly hard. However, most modern constructions had emerged largely unscathed. Acknowledging the area's seismic capabilities, everything built after the 1963 earthquake of Skopje in neighbouring Macedonia had been constructed to withstand such force.

Offers of help soon began to arrive from overseas. Despite international struggles related to Coronavirus, many still had sympathy upon hearing of the Zagreb earthquake. This outside sympathy and the media that prompted it were rarely directed to the semi-rural communities which experienced the earthquake's fiercest force.

The front of the town church in Čučerje, surrounded by scaffolding seven months after the earthquake

The small town of Čučerje is just short of 11 kilometres to the north-east of Zagreb city centre. In late October, the town looks impossibly pretty – houses perched in the foothills of Mount Medvednica, surrounded by greenery and trees exploding in a myriad of autumn shades. But, behind the colourful exterior lies a hidden suffering.

The spire of Čučerje's church is scarred on all sides by long-veined cracks

Čučerje lies just 500 metres from the epicentre of the earthquake. Scaffolding bolsters the town church, its spire scarred on all sides by long-veined cracks. Back from the main road, down simple, country lanes, sit houses much older than those standng proud above the centre. Here, life still exists in a way similar to that of the original residents of such dwellings. Elderly neighbours are preparing to heat their homes by wood-fired burners, chasing away the chill seeping in through the cracks the earthquake has left. As winter approaches, such hardships are not always reported as loudly as those faced by the damaged cultural institutions holding priceless collections in the capital. But, the struggle does not go unnoticed by Zagreb Volunteers Centre (VCZ).

Čučerje residents and members of Zagreb Volunteers Centre meet in the community centre to plan the day's action

Established in 1998, Zagreb Volunteers Centre acts as a conduit between charities, communities and non-profit organisations who need support and those willing to donate their time to good causes. Since it was formed, over 18, 000 people have submitted their names to the centre as potential Zagreb volunteers who may be called upon. The centre has helped over 700 organisations find Zagreb volunteers.

“Before 1996, there was a set-up that facilitated international volunteering - it helped connect Croatians with international actions that were looking for help,” says 28-year-old Dunja Hafner, who works for Zagreb Volunteers Centre. “But, it was noticed that some people couldn't commit to an overseas trip and that others simply just preferred only to volunteer locally. The logical step was to move into facilitating that.”

Zagreb volunteers gather in the early morning mist

“Since we started, the numbers of Zagreb volunteers in our database has grown steadily. But, over more recent times, volunteering does seem to have become a more popular thing to do. And, many people have put their names forward for volunteering since the advent of the earthquake. In the immediate aftermath, there were so many people volunteering that we had to just direct people to the specific groups who were appealing for help. We even had to turn down some Zagreb volunteers who offered their time. That had never previously happened in the history of the organisation. Now, we are managing better and we help co-ordinate some of the actions ourselves.”

“Before the earthquake, the main volunteering areas to which we would send people were actions for children, the elderly, events like culture, sports and music festivals, animals, ecology projects and nature conservation.”

My name is Dražen Blažević (centre), I was born in Croatia. My mother and grandparents are all from Zagreb. This is the city where I live. At the moment, I don't have regular employment, so I can afford to give my time to an action like this. While I'm looking for a full-time job, I make ends meet by doing food deliveries on my bicycle. Why am I here today? Honestly, it was only two weeks ago that I just had this feeling that I should give my time to help people. In one minute I decided I would volunteer. Before this, the kind of help I would give was only to my neighbours, the elderly relatives of friends. People like that. As an official volunteer, this is my first time. Maybe this sounds a little selfish, but I thought it would make me feel good.



My name is Alexandra and I am from Čučerje. I live here with my family. Right now, I am without a full-time job, so I take on some other daily obligations – I accompany kids to kindergarten and school, and I help out in our local church. I look after their social media pages for them. I also play the organ in the church. It was a very simple decision for me to join in with today's action – I live here. I walk past the devastation left by the earthquake every day. This town has experienced lots of problems because of the damage. For me, giving my time today is a way of showing the love I have for my town and the people who live here. Well, something like that.



My name is Borut Babanić (right) and I'm from Zagreb. I work as a project manager. I wanted to volunteer so I could help people. The residents of Čučerje are some of the worst affected by the earthquake and so that's why I want to come here specifically. I wanted them to not feel that they are alone. This is the first time I joined an action via the Zagreb Volunteer Centre.

My name is Antonio Frinčić (left). I'm from Zagreb. I work for the Croatian Foundation For Children. It's an organisation that assists in looking after children and families who have small incomes or limited means. It's a state-funded organisation. My position there is a paid one. This is not the first voluntary work I've undertaken, but it is the first time I have volunteered through the Zagreb Volunteer Centre. My answer is the same as Borut's – I came here because I wanted to help these people.

Borut and Antonio are pictured side-by-side because they spent most of the day working together. When they arrived in the morning, they were strangers. They left as friends.

My name is Marina Krolo and I'm originally from Split. I studied in Zagreb, finished university here and then stayed. My regular role in society is that I'm a tour guide and tour leader. That pretty much means that this is my year off, ha! There's not much work for a tour guide in 2020, so I'm trying to put my free time to good use. This is the first time I've volunteered through Zagreb Volunteer Centre.

My name is Vincent Matijaca. I was born in Split. I'm based in Zagreb now. We opened a company BioCro LTD in the United Kingdom a few months ago. What we're trying to do is assist small producers and OPGs from this region to place their products internationally, including the UK and other countries in Europe. Why am I here today? Well, we believe that you can't start promoting sustainability and help solely from the office, we believe our project to be more hands-on. By doing that we hope to be able to show what we're about, and to set an example that perhaps others will follow. We've previously joined actions through other Croatian volunteer organisations and others internationally, but this is the first time we've done so through Zagreb Volunteer Centre.

Local people from Čučerje and the surroundings had prepared food to make sure the volunteers didn't go hungry. This dish was made and donated by a local hairdresser. It is a local speciality called tenka gibanica. It was delicious.

My name is Tomislav Vlajčić and I'm from Zagreb. At the moment, my regular time is spent studying economy and training football. I'm the team leader of a faculty-related group Tourism Lab that's interested in that area of our economy. This is my first time volunteering. I decided to come because it's a good opportunity to help people who are in need and I'm really glad I came. The experience was really worth it and meeting new people, seeing a slightly different culture is priceless. I would recommend it to anyone because it all starts with us.

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ZAGREB, October 9, 2020 - The European Commission on Friday proposed that Croatia be allocated aid in the amount of €683.7 million from the European Solidarity Fund to remove the consequences of a strong earthquake that hit Zagreb on March 22.

The first tranche, in the amount of €88.9, was disbursed in August in the form of an advance payment. The EC's proposal is yet to be approved by the Council and the European Parliament and the funds will be available right after that.

The aid for Croatia is part of a broader package worth €823 million which the EC proposed on Friday. The rest of the package is intended for removing the consequences of floods in Poland (€7 million) and advance payments in the amount of €132.7 million as assistance in coping with the health crisis caused by the coronavirus in Germany, Ireland, Greece, Spain, Croatia, Hungary and Portugal.