Less than 72 hours before the year ends, a year that seemed to have calamities and emergencies stacked on each other, 2020 decided to shake the world once more. This time, quite literally.
The Quake
At around 12:20 pm local time (6:20 am ET), Croatia was hit by a 6.4 magnitude earthquake. According to the United States Geological Survey, the shake was a result of shallow strike-slip faulting within the Eurasia Plate. The epicenter was located 44 kilometers (27 miles) southeast of the capital Zagreb, according to the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC).
This is the strongest shake that hit the country this year.
Petrinja
Roofs falling on cars, people stuck under rubbles, parents calling for their children. This is the situation in Croatia as the strong ground tremors left the country in ruins.
The quake caused significant immediate damage to the Croatian town of Petrinja, but the full extent of the calamity is still undefined. As to the casualties, there is one confirmed death and many injured and in need of immediate medical response.
Along with the dozens of establishments left in ruins, utility lines like electricity, communication, and water are also down.
The shake devastated everyone in the city; it even made Petrinja Mayor Darinko Dumbović compare his city's destruction to the devastation that the Atomic bomb left on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. "This is like Hiroshima - half of the city no longer exists," he said while in shock.
Dumbović requested for immediate emergency medical and rescue response to aid his constituents.
Al Jazeera reporter Martin Versic described the chaos in the area as emergency service providers rushed into the scene to find and rescue as many survivors as possible to immediately tend to their needs.
He also said that "More victims are feared," declaring the possibility of recording more injured Croatian as the emergency response operation continued.
Despite the panic that was the immediate and appropriate response to an earthquake, the people in the affected area took the initiative to organize themselves to help lessen the rescue workers' jobs. They are calling the respondents to assist them in providing medical relief towards the nursing home.
Military Deployment
As a response, Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic deployed the military to aid the local rescue workers. He expressed his sentiments in his personal Twitter account, saying that "This is a tragedy, but everyone is here, and we will provide all possible help."
What to do during an Earthquake?
In unfortunate cases that you experience an earthquake, be it mild or intense, always remember to do the following:
- Stay Calm - Panic can lead to illogical and rash decisions that might cause more harm to you than good;
- Stay away from windows and doors;
- Stay away from trees, towers, and other things that might fall on you;
- Stay clear from any live electricity or fire;
- Find a stable place to use as protection;
- Check yourself for injuries;
- Check all the utility lines;
- Wait for emergency broadcasts.
- There is no way of preventing an earthquake from happening, but it is possible the destruction and harm that the tremors may bring.