Tuesday 29 December 2020
Slovenia shuts down nuclear power plants
Girl dies in earthquake in Croatia
For the second time in 30 hours, the earth is shaking in central Croatia. And the new quake is much stronger. It can also be felt in the neighboring countries of Austria, Hungary and Italy. Slovenia is shutting down a nuclear power plant for safety.
Croatia has been hit by a tremor for the second day in a row. According to the government in Zagreb, a girl is killed. The quake in the central region had a magnitude of 6.4, as the US earthquake control USGS announced. The European Seismological Center EMSC initially stated the strength of the quake as 6.2. Army forces were sent to the earthquake region as helpers, said Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic. According to the emergency services, many more people were injured. “A general panic is spreading, people are looking for their loved ones,” said the mayor of Petrinja, Darinko Dumbovic.
The media also reported significant property damage in the Croatian capital and in the vicinity of the epicenter, which was around 45 kilometers southeast of Zagreb. It was the second quake in a row within 30 hours. It was also noticeable in many regions of Austria, for example in Carinthia, Styria and the Vienna area. The earth also trembled in the Hungarian capital Budapest. An eyewitness reported shaking closets and damage to window panes. Slovenia shut down a nuclear power plant for safety reasons.
Even in some areas of Italy, the earthquake was felt, as the Italian civil protection authority announced. The authority is in contact with their local facilities. Numerous Italian users wrote on Twitter that they had felt the quake.
The Krsko nuclear power plant is the only Slovenian nuclear power plant and is located around a hundred kilometers east of the capital Ljubljana. The 700 megawatt reactor was built during the Yugoslav era and commissioned in 1983. The Krsko nuclear power plant is jointly owned by Slovenia and Croatia. It supplies 20 percent of the electricity required in Slovenia and covers 15 percent of the needs of Croatia.
Magnitude 5.2 and 5.0 tremors were recorded in the same area on Monday. Only in March did a 5.4 magnitude earthquake in Zagreb cause major damage. A youth had died and more than two dozen people were injured.