A powerful 6.4-magnitude earthquake struck Croatia on Tuesday, December 29th. At least six people were killed, dozens were wounded and several towns in central Croatia were left in ruins. The full extent of casualties was not known and as daylight faded, emergency crews, assisted by the military, searched the wreckage for survivors. The quake, which hit just after noon local time about 30 miles from the capital, Zagreb, could be felt across the Balkans and as far away as Hungary. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/29/world/europe/croatia-earthquake.html It followed a smaller earthquake a day earlier and another in March, rattling residents in the earthquake-prone region. The epicenter of the quake was near the towns of Petrinja and Sisak, which is home to the region’s largest hospital, rendered largely unusable because of damage. Although people injured in the quake were still being taken to the facility to be triaged, including two in critical condition, the government said it would evacuate the patients there. That effort would also include moving 40 coronavirus patients to other facilities. In March, an earthquake of magnitude 5.3 hit Zagreb caused wide damage of 26,000 buildings and homes. https://www.croatiaweek.com/photos-two-earthquakes-rock-the-croatian-capital-zagreb/ With the urgency of leaving their homes, the situation was exacerbated by the ongoing fight with COVID-19 with people not allowed to gather in groups and travel to other regions to slow the speading of the virus down. The consequences of this earthquake became immediately evident: downtown residents had to leave their homes and move to student dorms, several cultural institutions, including educational facilities, museums and the famed Zagreb Cathedral, sustained significant damage. Many hospitals were forced to evacuate patients and move them to safer locations with the help of the army personnel amid freezing temperatures.