Christmas Earthquakes
Croatia has been hit by one strong earthquake and three moderate earthquakes over the past 72 hours. The epicenters have been south of Petrinja, a town 15 miles south of Zagreb. The quake yesterday (5.2) was felt in Zagreb and did minor damage (pictures falling off walls) there. (Picture below from CNN.)
The quake today was 6.4, more than thirty times stronger than the quakes of the past few days (and the quake that hit Zagreb in March). Our people in Zagreb report being quite shaken by it, and the damage there (while still minor) was more serious than yesterday’s. HOWEVER: it’s cold in Zagreb (high in the 40’s) with rain. Earthquake protocols call for people to wait outside after earthquakes. And the electricity is out in parts of Zagreb, so our people do not have heat.
As I said, Petrinja was hit fairly hard. The Baptist church there did not suffer much damage to its building, but several of their people had severe damage to their apartments or houses. One of our professors, Danijel Časni, is on staff at the Baptist church in Dubrava, a suburb of Zagreb. His church has a “social relief fund” that will help the people in Petrinja.
We (BIZG) will be sending financial support to Petrinja through our partnership with the Dubrava Baptist Church.