On 22 March 2020, Zagreb was struck by an M5.5 earthquake that had been expected for more than 100 years and revealed all the failures in the construction of residential buildings in the Croatian capital, especially those built in the first half of the 20th century. Because of that, extensive seismological, geological, geodetic and structural engineering surveys were conducted immediately after the main shock. This study provides descriptions of damage, specifying the building performances and their correlation with the local soil characteristics, i.e., seismic motion amplification. Co-seismic vertical ground displacement was estimated, and the most affected area is identified according to Sentinel-1 interferometric wide-swath data. Finally, preliminary 3D structural modeling of the earthquake sequence was performed, and two major faults were modeled using inverse distance weight (IDW) interpolation of the grouped hypocenters. The first-order assessment of seismic amplification (due to site conditions) in the Zagreb area for the M5.5 earthquake shows that ground motions of approximately 0.16–0.19 g were amplified at least twice. The observed co-seismic deformation (based on Sentinel-1A IW SLC images) implies an approximately 3 cm uplift of the epicentral area that covers approximately 20 km2. Based on the preliminary spatial and temporal analyses of the Zagreb 2020 earthquake sequence, the main shock and the first aftershocks evidently occurred in the subsurface of the Medvednica Mountains along a deep-seated southeast-dipping thrust fault, recognized as the primary (master) fault. The co-seismic rupture propagated along the thrust towards northwest during the first half-hour of the earthquake sequence, which can be clearly seen from the time-lapse visualization. The preliminary results strongly support one of the debated models of the active tectonic setting of the Medvednica Mountains and will contribute to a better assessment of the seismic hazard for the wider Zagreb area.

On 28 December 2020, seismic activity in the wider Petrinja area strongly intensified after a period of relative seismological quiescence that had lasted more than 100 years (since the well-known M5.8 Kupa Valley earthquake of 1909, which is known based on the discovery of the Mohorovičić discontinuity). The day after the M5 foreshock, a destructive M6.2 mainshock occurred. Outcomes of preliminary seismological, geological and SAR image analyses indicate that the foreshocks, mainshock and aftershocks were generated due to the (re)activation of a complex fault system—the intersection of longitudinal NW–SE right-lateral and transverse NE–SW left-lateral faults along the transitional contact zone of the Dinarides and the Pannonian Basin. According to a survey of damage to buildings, approximately 15% of buildings were very heavily damaged or collapsed. Buildings of special or outstanding historical or cultural heritage significance mostly collapsed or became unserviceable. A preliminary analysis of the earthquake ground motion showed that in the epicentral area, the estimated peak ground acceleration PGA values for the bedrock ranged from 0.29 to 0.44 g. In the close Petrinja epicentral area that is characterized by the superficial deposits, significant ground failures were reported within local site effects. Based on that finding and building damage, we assume that the resulting peak ground acceleration (PGAsite) values were likely between 0.4 and 0.6 g depending on the local site characteristics and the distance from the epicentre.

No abstract

No abstract

No abstract