Videos Show 6.4 Magnitude Croatia Earthquake Hitting Live on TV
Croatia #Croatia
Croatia has been hit by a 6.4 magnitude earthquake, which has been captured in startling live TV footage.
The earthquake struck 46km southeast of Zagreb, the capital of the country that sits between central and southeastern Europe, at 11:19 UTC, according to the European Mediterranean Seismological Center.
N1 news channel said Petrinja, a town 50 kilometers from Zagreb, was the epicenter.
The Associated Press news agency said initial reports suggested it had caused the roofs and the facades of buildings to collapse. Other buildings collapsed entirely.
Firefighters in Petrinja moved rubble from one collapsed building to reach a car and rescue one man and a boy, who were put into an ambulance, N1 reported.
Croatia’s military were sent to the town to aid rescue efforts. The country’s media said people were injured but did not say how many, AP reported.
An unverified Twitter account carrying the name of national assembly member Jure Ferjan of the Slovenian Democratic Party shared a video of the earthquake shaking parliament live on TV. The clip shows politicians leaving their seats as the building shakes.
The tweet was captioned: “We also felt the earthquake in the National Assembly of the Republic of Slovenia.”
He later shared an image of the bathroom in the building with broken tiles on the floor.
Tancredi Palmeri, the sports correspondent for the website beIN, tweeted a video of the earthquake hitting during a live broadcast of N1.
The clip shows two women speaking outdoors as the ground then camera starts to shake. The camera cuts back to the studio, which is quivering.
Palmeri tweeted: “Spinechilling moment of earthquake during live TV in Croatia.”
Both videos carry the time stamp of 12:20 p.m.
Croatian seismologist Kresimir Kuk said the earthquake was “extremely strong,” according to the Associated Press, and told people to stay away from old buildings and head to newer parts of the city to avoid the potential dangers of aftershocks.
Stephen Hicks, a seismologist at Imperial College London, U.K., tweeted: “We can probably expect quite strong shaking and hence some damage to buildings from this earthquake.
“There was a magnitude 5.2 foreshock in the same area just yesterday.”
He said: “According to the USGS [United States Geological Survey] earthquake catalogue, today’s earthquake will probably be the largest to have hit Croatia since detailed instrumental records began. It is also one of the largest magnitude events in the northwest Balkans region.”
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