January 6, 2021 – Shaken by scenes from Petrinja, Sisak, Glina, and surrounding places affected by the earthquake, the organizers of the traditional holiday costume race Zagreb Advent Run organized a humanitarian action called "ZAR runs for Petrinja."

As part of the action, they call on all runners and other interested citizens to run the desired section anywhere in Croatia by January 10, 2021 and support the victims of the earthquake-affected areas with a paid donation.

Registrations are available on their website, and the organizers will donate all the money to help the victims in Sisak-Moslavina County.

To help all victims and reduce their pain and sorrow, the Zagreb Advent Run organizers, Millenium Promotion and Run Croatia, invite all citizens to contribute and show a big racing heart.

"Surprised by the unpleasant event that hit Petrinja and the surrounding areas, we immediately devised a way to get involved. We sympathize with all the victims, and by organizing the humanitarian run named 'ZAR runs for Petrinja,' we decided to act and show a big racing heart. We will donate all the funds raised in this action to help Petrinja and the surrounding places, and as a sign of gratitude to all runners, we will send a special ZAR digital thank you note," said the organizers.

They also invite all participants to share their photos and videos of the run on social networks with the hashtag #ZARtrčizaPetrinju.

To ensure that the funds get into the right hands, the organizers will pay the donations to a specially opened account in the State Treasury for this action. When the humanitarian action ends, the organizers will publicly announce the total amount of funds raised.

Donations can be paid to the following data:

Recipient: Državni proračun Republike Hrvatske/State Budget of the Republic of Croatia

Invoice for payment: HR1210010051863000160 I

Model: HR 68

Reference to recipient number: 5444-OIB-1

For payments from abroad - SWIFT: NBHRHR2XXXX

Source: Večernji.hr

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, 6 January, 2021 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic has said on Wednesday that the extent of the damage caused by the 29 December earthquake is bigger than it seemed immediately after the disaster.

Plenkovic, who gave an interview on Tuesday evening after he again visited the quake-stricken towns of Sisak, Glina, Petrinja and their environs, said that the extent of the damage made by the magnitude 6.2 tremor had been bigger than it seemed immediately after it had happened.

He also said that it was unrealistic to expect things to get shipshape in Sisak-Moslavina County within a few days after such an earthquake, thus dismissing claims about a lack of coordination of efforts to deal with the aftermath of the quake.

Plenkovic also praised the Croatian people for showing solidarity with Sisak County's inhabitants and for the full engagement of all services on the ground.

Medved: Nobody will be left alone

The head of the task force to deal with the aftermath of the December 29 earthquake, Minister Tomo Medved, told the Croatian Radio on Wednesday that nobody would be left alone in the quake-hit area. He called on the people in the affected area to have patience and trust in the institutions of Croatia.

Our services will visit all the families in the area and we are seeking solutions for their accommodation, Medved said reassuring them that the authorities were redoubled efforts to expedite the provision of container homes.

Croatian Mountain Rescue Service (HGSS) head Josip Granic said the service had stepped up its activities in the region due to the inclement winter conditions.

He said that the situation was stabilising lately.

ZAGREB, 6 January (Hina) - A consequence of the 29 December quake measuring 6.2 on the Richter scale was also the shifting of the city of Sisak eastward by about 10 centimetres, and Petrinja shifted between 15 and 20 centimetres eastward, Jutarnji List reported on Wednesday.

Mapping prepared on the basis of satelite images provided by the European Space Agency show that the devastating quake caused shifts of soil with an amplitude of up to 70 centimetres. The biggest shift was registered in the forest area near the settlements of Slana, Glinska Poljana and Gora, says Jutarnji.

Researcher Marin Govorcin, a professor of the Zagreb-based Faculty of Geodesy, was quoted as saying that Sisak has shifted with less intensity than Petrinja.

"Preliminary, Sisak shifted by 10 centimetres and Petrinja between 15 and 20 centimetres," he said.

A team of researchers is now in the region hit by the quake and they have not yet detected any first-tier effects such as surface ruptures on the fault line.

Seismology expert Josip Stipcevic was quoted as saying that if they find any surface rupture this could help them to assess where the fault line is and other features of the fault-line concerned.

The newspaper recalls that the earthquake occurred in a fault-line in the direction from northwest to southeast and passing through the Pokuplje region near Petrinja and Glina and that fault-line is between two different tectonic blocks: Dinarides and Pannonian basin.

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, 6 January, 2021 - A week after an earthquake devastated Sisak-Moslavina County, the people of Petrinja and volunteers are still in the streets, continuing to rebuild their city, grateful for the help from across Croatia, but fearing new tremors.

A magnitude 6.2 earthquake, with the epicentre 3 km southwest of Petrinja, hit at 12.19 p.m. last Tuesday, razing to the ground a large part of the city and killing seven in the county.

Access roads to the city and its streets are still full of vehicles bringing relief from all over Croatia. The streets are full of residents, police, civil protection members, firefighters, volunteers as well as those who look as if they have come to the demolished city as tourists. There are also many journalists, including two from South Korea.

Croatian flags are displayed on many houses, in front of which are tonnes of rubble.

"Only as I was coming here did I realise how much has been destroyed," said a police officer who came to Petrinja from another town.

The busiest location in the city centre is War Veterans Square, from which booths put up for a Christmas fair have not been removed yet. Tents have been erected to distribute food and other relief. Many people are waiting in line for the food, while a few metres away the army is chopping wood for burning which looks as if it came from furniture in demolished houses.

"Cake? Who needs cake?" echoes around the square and the answer comes quickly.

This morning, for the first time since the main tremor, the sun shone above Petrinja. "We are scared. That day too it was beautiful like this," a local woman said.

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, 6 January, 2021 - The Electronic Media Council (VEM) has not received any complaint about reports of TV stations, radio stations and other electronic media broadcasters about the quakes and the aftermath of those quakes that happened in Croatia in 2020.

The VEM president Josip Popovac told Hina on Tuesday that the regulator had not received any complaint on the reports on this topic and he himself had no objection on how the electronic media had covered that topic so far.

Popovac said that despite the circumstances marked by the COVID-19 pandemic and strong quakes that have hit Croatia, the country's media system had managed to perform its main role.

He said that "accurate, reliable and trustworthy information" was provided to the general public by electronic media.

"Considering their stable finances and a relatively mild exposure to the market, public broadcasters are supposed to be the source of reliable and fact-checked information and promoters of professional standards," he said, calling on both the national radio and television HRT and the Croatian news agency Hina to make additional efforts in fact-checking information and in combating anomalies in the information spaces on a permanent basis and not only in times of great crises.

Popovac praised the role of local media in the quake-hit central Croatia and said that the contribution of local media outlets in the those areas was immeasurable.

The Petrinja and Sisak radio stations, whose buildings were destroyed in the quake, restarted operating four days after the quake. The radio stations Banovina and Quirinus that did not sustain extensive damage, resumed operating immediately after the earthquake, Popovac said, praising the journalists, editors and other personnel, whose homes suffered damage, for their dedication to their profession in such difficult circumstances.

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, 6 January, 2021 - Over 1,000 volunteers of Caritas, a major Catholic nongovernmental charitable organisation, have been engaged in sorting, packing and unloading humanitarian aid since the devastating quake and so far 100 truckloads of aid have been delivered to the quake-hit central Croatia.

These data were presented by Sisak Bishop Vlado Kosic and Caritas representatives during their meeting with Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic on Tuesday in the Caritas distribution centre in Sisak at the end of Plenkovic's day-long visit to the quake-stricken area.

Kosic and the director of the Caritas organisation in Sisak Diocese, Kristina Radic, said that since the 29 December quake, this charitable had been distributing food and hygienic items to people in need and also in parallel, its volunteers were collecting necessary and valuable information on the situation on the ground and on houses and buildings in need of repair and reconstruction.

The bishop informed the premier about the damage done to the Sisak cathedral and to other places of worship and sacral objects.

On 30 December, Caritas sent "an Appeal  for Assistance to the Earthquake Victims in Petrinja, Sisak and the Surrounding Area".

"In this demanding situation, Caritas Croatia appeals for charitable donations and solidarity with the victims in Petrinja, Sisak and the surroundings, and also thanks all those who have already generously offered to place themselves, their hospitality and material goods at the disposal of the victims," reads the appeal.

"Monetary donations for the earthquake victims can be sent through Caritas Croatia to the following account:

Hrvatski Caritas, Ksaverska cesta 12a, Zagreb, Privredna banka Zagreb (PBZ), Croatia;

IBAN: HR0523400091100080340, Reference No. 12‒20

For payments made outside Croatia: SWIFT/BIC: PBZGHR2X.

Caritas Croatia donation telephone: (++385) 060 9010 (6.25kn, VAT included)," says the charitable in that appeal.

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, 5 January, 2021 - Deputy Prime Minister Boris Milosevic said on Tuesday that according to a rough estimate, 1,000 more container homes were needed in the Banovina region struck by last week's earthquake.

"We are doing our best to ensure containers and a roof over the head," he told RTL television, adding that 220 containers and 106 mobile homes have been set up to date.

Milosevic said 100 containers were expected by the end of the week and that negotiations were underway to obtain 300 caravans by the end of next week, adding that the provision of 200 containers had been arranged with domestic manufacturers.

He said almost 22,000 buildings had been reported as damaged in the Banovina tremor to date, adding that this was not the final number. He recalled that 26,000 buildings were damaged in the Zagreb quake last March.

Milosevic said that as far as he knew, all the people affected by last week's earthquake had been visited and offered assistance.

I was relieved to hear that the Red Cross visits over 50% of all settlements on a daily basis, which means that they visit all affected settlements in two days, he said.

In the spirit of Christmas, it is good that there is a great feeling of solidarity, help and empathy between people, Milosevic added.

"No distinction is being made on ethnic grounds and citizens from all Croatia are offering help and that's the most important thing at this time."

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

Medved: We'll have 300 new container homes in next ten days

Speaking for Croatian Television, Deputy PM Tomo Medved, who heads the task force dealing with the aftermath of the earthquake, said the procurement of container homes had been intensified and that 300 new ones would be ready for delivery in about ten days.

January 6, 2021 - Croatian chefs have been tirelessly cooking for the Petrinja earthquake victims, as well as for the volunteers on the ground. They arrived just three hours after the earthquake struck on December 29.

So far, they have prepared over 60,000 meals, and on Monday alone, about 11,000 meals were delivered. The chefs organized everything themselves, donated, paid the funds, and most importantly, were immediately in the field, ready to heal with the comfort of food. 

The entire catering industry has joined in, and the National Association of Caterers, the Croatian Culinary Association, Chefs Cook at Home, JRE, and various other catering associations and chefs from all over Croatia are on the ground.

HRTurizam reports that the sixth kitchen was opened on Tuesday, the second in Sisak.

Chefs are currently cook in the following locations:

Petrinja - Croatian Veterans Square 
Mošćenica - Dragutin Tadijanovic Elementary School (Cocktail bar Chef cooks at home)
Topusko - Catering school at Školska 14
Sisak - two locations - Sisak elementary school at Ul. Franje Lovrića 27 and Mije Goričkog 58 (Cocktail bar Chef cooks at home)
Glina - Drvni centar, Ulica Žrtava Domovinskog rata 71

On Tuesday, the caterers managed to arrange for the state to receive all the necessary cooking materials.

”We have arranged everything here, we have cooked about 60,000 meals as of today. Just yesterday, we shared 11,000 hot meals. Now, as we were told, the state will train Ina in Sisak to prepare 6,000 hot meals, and we chefs will stay for the next 7 days, but then we must slowly return to our jobs," said Marin Medak from the National Association of Caterers, stating that about 200 to 300 chefs from all over Croatia are cooking for the victims of the earthquake, as well as for volunteers.

"When we arrived in Petrinja at 4 pm on Tuesday, no one from the service was here. We only cooked 800 meals that day in my 'food truck'. We brought two units and burned through them as much as we cooked. The key for me was to feed the people, and the situation is now that the state must structurally take over the job of organizing hot meals. We will transfer all donations to them and now let Tomo Medved (Civil Protection Headquarters Chief for earthquake relief) take it over; it must not happen that people stay hungry. It’s time for the state to take the baton," Medak said.

The team of Croatian chefs led by Mato Janković, which you may know from the Facebook page Chef kuha doma, announced on Tuesday that they will stay in Petrinja until further notice, regardless of whether they will receive state aid or not.

"The Chef Cooks at Home Association remains at the disposal of people affected by the earthquake. So we continue to cook and help everyone who needs a hot meal every day. We don't care if the state wants to help or not. We collected donations through private and business contacts and the personal commitment and reputation we have built over the years. We distance ourselves from media reports mentioning that chefs are withdrawing from Petrinja if the state does not help.

Petrinja, Sisak, and Glina - We are still here for you!

Chef kuha doma team
Marin Rendić
Mate Janković
Igor Čimbur
Belizar Milos
Pero Savanović
Ante Božikov

We thank all our donors, partners, and people with big hearts!" they wrote.

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 the 6th, 2021 - Croatian musicians have gifted instruments to the students of the now destroyed Petrinja music school, which suffered during the recent earthquake which struck central Croatia.

As Morski writes, Croatian musicians Zlatan Stipisic Gibonni (52) and Niksa Bratos (61) launched an action to collect instruments for children attending the Fran Lhotka Music School in Sisak. The school was badly damaged in the earthquake on December the 29th, 2020, and Gibonni's official Facebook page announced everything regarding the initiative. The announcement also states that many Croatians musicians were also quick to join the action.

''The idea was originally Gibonni's. He soon called me to help out somehow, and of course I agreed. In such situations, we musicians usually play, we do a charity concert, but as it's simply not possible to do it now during the time of the pandemic, we thought about what we could do additionally as a group of people. Gibonni suggested that we help these young musicians out with some instruments and that's how the idea was born,'' explained Bratos, 24 sata reports.

This story, of course, will not stop at just the two of them, with more Croatian musicians eagerly getting involved.

''Soon, several more Croatian musicians, people from the stage and from the profession, all got involved. I might not come out with their names at this moment because someone new will join soon… And I don't think names are the key part of all this either,'' the Croatian composer and producer concluded.

Still, this nice idea with instruments will have to wait a while longer, as the Fran Lhotka Music School is 140 years old and suffered serious damage in the recent quake. First of all, a thorough renovation and rehabilitation of the building itself is necessary.

''We won't be able to do it alone, of course. It's a job that state structures have to deal with and raise funds for. We still don't know exactly what the situation is with the instruments inside the school, so we'll have to wait a bit. Some instruments children can take home, some will stay. We heard that the pianos were allegedly not badly damaged, we don't know the exact condition of the school yet,'' he added.

The whole story is on hold for now, but this part of Croatia will definitely need help for some time to come, and not just for the first few days of the new year.

''We haven't yet worked out these details, such as whether we'll buy these instruments or donate our own belongings to the school, but the initiative has certainly come to life. Because of some symbolism, I think it would be nice if these were our instruments, so that one day at school the children might play Gibonni's own guitar. In addition to guitars, I used to play wind instruments, I also have a saxophone, a clarinet… We'll adapt to their needs, that is now the least we can do,'' concluded Bratos.

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January the 6th, 2021 - Following a recent conversation with the principal, Split-Dalmatia County Prefect Blazenko Boban came to visit a now destroyed Petrinja school. The Ivan Goran Kovacic elementary school in Gora in Petrinja will be rebuilt by Split-Dalmatia County.

As Morski writes, Split-Dalmatia County has a long tradition of helping those who are the most in need, and this Petrinja school is no exception.

''Let's remember how we renovated the building of the City Administration in Vukovar and its associated road. Just like that, we'll help out here too because you never know when trouble may come knocking on your own door. We decided to go to the Petrinja school because in our county we mostly care about young people and rural areas. The goal is for the students to be in their school again in the new school year,'' said prefect Blazenko Boban, who handed the school's principal right computers for the school following the visit.

School principal Valentina Vujnovic is happy that students might be able to return to the renovated Petrinja school at the beginning of the next school year:

''We renovated the school last year, our county has invested a lot of money in energy renovation and in the renovation of the kitchen so that students have hot meals. I was at school when the earthquake happened. There are 81 students here in this school, 15 students in the regional school and there are 34 employees. Prefect Boban called me two days ago and pleasantly surprised me with his offer to help and I'd like to sincerely thank him and the county for thinking of us,'' she stated.

Sanja Miokovic, Head of the Department for Projects and Investments of Sisak-Moslavina County also commented on the condition of educational facilities in the affected area:

''Nine buildings are currently completely unusable. District schools are available but they don't have the capacities and they can only accommodate a small number of students. Schools suffered the most in the Petrinja area, a couple of them were quite badly damaged and must be demolished and there's no possibility of reconstruction. They also include sports halls used by schools and other associations, so the damage is huge. The staticians are on the ground, collecting data that we'll have by the end of the week so that we can start with the first phase.

Prefect Boban was accompanied by Tomislav Djonlic, Head of the Board for Education, Culture, Technical Culture and Sports, and Damir Gabric, Head of the Board for Croatian Veterans, Civil Protection and Human Rights.

After the tour and the agreement to rebuild the Petrinja school, they also visited the Red Cross to provide support to all of the volunteers, members of the rescue service, firefighters and others who are selflessly engaged in helping all of the injured.

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