Since the earthquake occurred, people in the affected area have become more and more worried as sinkholes continuously appear. Thousands of people are living in fear of being swallowed up by the Earth after hundreds of sinkholes appeared in an area shaken by a powerful earthquake just over two months ago.
On December 29, 2020, Croatia recorded its strongest earthquake ever at 6.4 magnitude. The earthquake directly affected 116,000 people, mainly in the cities of Petrinja, Sisak and Glina, and the surrounding countryside.
More than 35,000 homes and 4,550 businesses were damaged by the strong tremor and its numerous aftershocks. In addition, 5 deaths due to destructive natural phenomena were reported.
More than two months after the earthquake occurred, people in the affected area became more and more worried when the sinkholes continuously appeared.
Many dangerous sinkholes appear after earthquakes.
According to residents in the village of Mečenčani, located about 25km from the epicenter of the earthquake, the first sinkholes appeared two days before the earthquake, but 10 days after the natural disaster there were 15 sinkholes in the village. .
Tomo Medved, head of the task force dealing with the aftermath of the December 29 earthquake, told Croatian Radio that the number of sinkholes in the city of Kukuruzari, in the area around Petrinja, has increased from 40 last week to over 70.
Because sinkholes keep appearing at an amazing rate , scientists don’t even have a chance to assess the situation.
Experts at Zagreb’s Faculty of Mines, Geology and Petroleum Engineering have made some recommendations, but with life in turmoil, it’s hard for anyone to take responsibility and come up with a strategy.
“This is a really big number, growing and we are facing the challenge of finding a solution… so that the lives of the people who live here are not in any danger,” Medved said .
Currently, authorities are evacuating the worst-affected communities and setting up temporary housing in the form of container homes.
Some of the pits deployed by the task force in the affected area are several meters wide, up to 30 meters at the largest. The deepest sinkholes are about 15 meters deep, but most are filled with water making it difficult to estimate their depth.
While not as scary as the giant funnel-shaped sinkholes that have appeared in Russia, Croatia’s sinkholes are much more dangerous because they appear in densely populated areas.
