[chris]

An earthquake struck Zagreb, Croatia, at 6:24 a.m. on March 22, 2020. The Croatian Seismological Survey put it at local magnitude 5.5, with the epicentre about 7 km north of the city centre on the slopes of Medvednica and a depth of around 10 km. It was the strongest earthquake to hit the city in roughly 140 years.

The shaking was short and sharp, and the historic core is built largely of unreinforced masonry with no seismic detailing. Chimneys, gables, parapets and cornices broke away and fell into the streets, crushing parked cars and littering the downtown with rubble. The stone top of the south spire of Zagreb Cathedral fractured about 92 meters up and fell through the roof. The north spire was later found to be critically damaged and was taken down in a controlled demolition on April 17.

A 15-year-old girl struck by falling debris died the following day. The official assessment recorded 26 people injured, 18 of them severely. About 26,000 buildings were damaged, roughly 1,200 of them heavily, and an estimated 30,000 people had to leave their homes.

The quake came during a coronavirus lockdown, pushing residents into the streets while authorities were asking them to keep apart. A maternity hospital was evacuated, with mothers, newborns and incubators moved to other hospitals with army help. The strongest aftershock, magnitude 5.0, followed about 40 minutes later.