Earthquake near Zagreb in 1880
| Earthquake near Zagreb in 1880 | |||
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| Coordinates | 45 ° 54 ′ 0 ″ N , 16 ° 6 ′ 0 ″ E | ||
| date | November 9, 1880 | ||
| Time | 07:33:50 a.m. local time | ||
| intensity | VIII – IX on the EMS scale | ||
| Magnitude | 6.3 M L | ||
| epicenter | northeast of Zagreb | ||
| country | Croatia | ||
| dead | 2 | ||
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The earthquake near Zagreb in 1880 occurred on November 9, 1880 at 7:33 a.m. It did great damage in Zagreb . The city, which at that time was known by its German name Agram and belonged to Austria-Hungary , experienced a surge in modernization after the earthquake. The earthquake was also the impetus for the start of systematic earthquake research.
Tectonic background
Earthquakes are not uncommon in Croatia due to the proximity of the plate boundary between the Eurasian and African plates . There were repeated earthquake damage in Zagreb, around 1830 and twice in 1838. The earliest known earthquake in the region occurred on March 26, 1502, when a church tower collapsed. The earthquake of November 9, 1880 was the strongest documented earthquake in Zagreb to date.
The earthquake was not recorded seismographically . According to estimates in later studies, its magnitude was 6.3 on the Richter scale . The epicenter of the quake was northeast of the city in the mountains of Zagreb (the coordinates given above are to be understood as approximate values). The focal depth was probably 12-17 kilometers. The tremors lasted about ten seconds.
In the following months several aftershocks occurred, those on February 26, 1881, March 24, 1881 and October 23, 1881 caused further damage.
Victims and damage
Two people were killed and many injured in the earthquake.
Much of the city was destroyed. According to a study by the Croatian natural scientist Josip Torbar, a total of 1758 buildings in Zagreb were damaged, i.e. almost every second building in existence at the time. The Zagreb Cathedral , St. Mark's Church , St. Catherine Church, the Archbishop's seat and the university building were affected . Many buildings had to be demolished for security reasons. There was also damage in many places in the surrounding area.
Alarming rumors spread, such as that the city would collapse from an underground volcano. As a result, many people fled the city after the quake. Public lights went out for a while, schools remained closed, and commercial and cultural life was reduced. These were also reasons why it is estimated that one in five residents left the city.
Urban planning impulse
The earthquake marked an important turning point in the urban planning and architectural history of Zagreb. Hermann Bollé was appointed the main restorer of the sacred and secular buildings . Several hundred construction workers from Slovenia and Austria were hired. The lower town in particular was expanded, Ban Jelačić Square was given a new look and became a trade and transport hub. A new theater building was built to replace the badly damaged old theater . Around 700 new buildings had been erected in the city by 1890. The predominant style was historicism , especially the neo-renaissance and neo-baroque , in Bollé's works also the neo-Gothic . Stairs and the funicular were built to connect the upper and lower town and several parks were created. Numerous cities at home and abroad provided support for the reconstruction efforts.
In the year of the quake, Zagreb had around 30,000 inhabitants and experienced a large increase in population after its renovation; in 1890 there were already 39,000 people. As a result, more schools were built and the main train station was built. The water network was expanded, many streets and sidewalks were paved and creeks vaulted . The city experienced an economic boom.
Scientific impulses
The earthquake made it clear that severe earthquakes can also occur in Austria-Hungary, which is considered seismically calm. A detailed investigation of the natural disaster was ordered, during which the damage was documented by several photographers. Social importance was attached to understanding this phenomenon and systematic study of earthquakes began. The Yugoslav Academy of Sciences and Arts and Andrija Mohorovičić's meteorological observatory , from which the famous Zagreb School of Seismology emerged , played a pioneering role . The academies of science in Vienna and Pest sent two experts to investigate the earthquake (including Max Hantken von Prudnik ) who wrote monographs on it. The geologist Gjuro Pilar also wrote a paper about the event.
literature
- Veselin Simović: Potresi na zagrebačkom području. In: Građevinar . Volume 52, No. 11, December 2000, pp. 637-645, available online at hrcak.srce.hr (Croatian).
- Jan Kozák, Vladimír Cermák: The Illustrated History of Natural Disasters. Springer, Dortrecht / Heidelberg / London / New York 2010, ISBN 978-90-481-3324-6 , p. 151f, DOI: 10.1007 / 978-90-481-3325-3_33 (English).
- Dragan Damjanović: Photo Albums of the 1880 Zagreb Earthquake. In: VisibileInvisibile. Percepire la città tra descrizioni e omissioni. VI. Città immaginate: sguardi sulla città contemporanea. Scrimm Edizioni, Catania 2014, ISBN 978-88-98547-05-0 , pp. 1833-1845 (English).
Web links
- Pictures of the damage on kultura.hr
supporting documents
- ^ Marijan Herak, Dragutin Skoko, Davorka Herak: Seismology in Croatia. In: gfz.hr . Retrieved March 23, 2020.
- ↑ a b c d Vanda Ladović, Nada Premerl: Potres u Zagrebu 1880. godine i izgradnja nakon potresa. In: mgz.hr . Accessed March 24, 2020 (Croatian).
- ↑ Stjepan Milcic: Hermann Bolle - the German builder of the Croatian capital Zagreb. In: ard-wien.de . May 16, 2015, accessed March 23, 2020.
- ^ Max Hantken von Prudnik: The Agram earthquake in 1880 . In: Mittheilungen from the yearbook of the Kings. Hungarian geological institute, Volume 6, Volume 3, 1882, digitized online at oszk.hu (PDF; 28.7 MB).