The 1962 Makarska earthquakes occurred on January 7 to January 11 near the towns of Podgora and

Makarska Makarska (; it, Macarsca, ; german: Macharscha) is a town on the Adriatic coastline of Croatia, about southeast of Split (city), Split and northwest of Dubrovnik, in the Split-Dalmatia County. Makarska is a prominent regional tourist center, ...

Dalmatia Dalmatia (; hr, Dalmacija ; it, Dalmazia; see #Name, names in other languages) is one of the four historical region, historical regions of Croatia, alongside Croatia proper, Slavonia, and Istria. Dalmatia is a narrow belt of the east shore of ...

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

(at the time part of

SFR Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as SFR Yugoslavia or simply as Yugoslavia, was a country in Central and Southeast Europe. It emerged in 1945, following World War II, and lasted until 1992, with the breakup of Yug ...

). The event is what is known as a

doublet earthquake __NOTOC__ In seismology, doublet earthquakes – and more generally, multiplet earthquakes – were originally identified as multiple earthquakes with nearly identical waveforms originating from the same location. They are now characterized as sin ...

where there are two or more mainshocks occurring in a short span of time. The two earthquake measured 6.2 on the

moment magnitude scale The moment magnitude scale (MMS; denoted explicitly with or Mw, and generally implied with use of a single M for magnitude) is a measure of an earthquake's magnitude ("size" or strength) based on its seismic moment. It was defined in a 1979 pape ...

. The first tremor was assigned VIII (''Severe''), and the second event IX (''Violent'') on the

Modified Mercalli intensity scale The Modified Mercalli intensity scale (MM, MMI, or MCS), developed from Giuseppe Mercalli's Mercalli intensity scale of 1902, is a seismic intensity scale used for measuring the intensity of shaking produced by an earthquake. It measures the eff ...

. The earthquakes killed a total of 6 people, and caused damage to vulnerable structures. A tsunami may have been triggered by the quakes according to nearby tide gauges.

Geological location

Dalmatia, the southern part of Croatia, is located in a tectonic thrust zone in the Adriatic basin with the

African African or Africans may refer to: * Anything from or pertaining to the continent of Africa: ** People who are native to Africa, descendants of natives of Africa, or individuals who trace their ancestry to indigenous inhabitants of Africa *** Ethn ...

and

Eurasian Eurasia (, ) is the largest continental area on Earth, comprising all of Europe and Asia. Primarily in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Eastern Hemispheres, it spans from the British Isles and the Iberian Peninsula in the west to the Ja ...

plates colliding within it. However, some believe that the entirety of the Adriatic lies in a separate micro-plate known as the Apulia-Adriatic micro-plate that moves northeast into the Swiss Alps at a rate of about 1-2 millimeters in the north and 4-5 millimeters in the south. In the west, it's situated nearby the

Dinaric Alps The Dinaric Alps (), also Dinarides, are a mountain range in Southern and Southcentral Europe, separating the continental Balkan Peninsula from the Adriatic Sea. They stretch from Italy in the northwest through Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herz ...

which runs through the Balkan peninsula all the way to

Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...

in the south. It also neighbors the Italian west coast which is also a hot zone for earthquakes and where you can find the

Apennine Mountains The Apennines or Apennine Mountains (; grc-gre, links=no, Ἀπέννινα ὄρη or Ἀπέννινον ὄρος; la, Appenninus or – a singular with plural meaning;''Apenninus'' (Greek or ) has the form of an adjective, which wou ...

, also known as the spine of the Italian peninsula. Due to this, the entirety of the Croatian east coast is exposed to seismic activity, which includes earthquakes with magnitudes above 6. The most notable event is the 1667 Dubrovnik earthquake that occurred near the town of

Dubrovnik Dubrovnik (), historically known as Ragusa (; see notes on naming), is a city on the Adriatic Sea in the region of Dalmatia, in the southeastern semi-exclave of Croatia. It is one of the most prominent tourist destinations in the Mediterran ...

reaching intensities as high as IX resulting in the deaths of many.

Earthquakes

January 7

The first earthquake measured a preliminary 5.8 on the

body wave magnitude Body-waves consist of P-waves that are the first to arrive (see seismogram), or S-waves, or reflections of either. Body-waves travel through rock directly. mB scale The original "body-wave magnitude" – mB or mB (uppercase "B") – was developed ...

scale and was initially believed to be a foreshock to the second earthquake; however, this idea was later ruled out. Its epicenter was between the town of Makarska in the mainland and the island of

Hvar Hvar (; Chakavian: ''Hvor'' or ''For'', el, Φάρος, Pharos, la, Pharia, it, Lesina) is a Croatian island in the Adriatic Sea, located off the Dalmatian coast, lying between the islands of Brač, Vis and Korčula. Approximately long, wi ...

southwest.

January 11

The second earthquake was much stronger with magnitudes of 6.1–6.2. It was deemed the mainshock of the two. Fortunately it occurred further from population centres such as Makarska and Podgora. Despite this, many more buildings were damaged and local accounts said the residents were more terrified. Further shocks rocked the area for 15 days, damaging local infrastructure and further levelling buildings on the islands near the epicenter, especially on Hvar.

Tsunami

There has been some speculation that the strength of the earthquake was enough to generate a tsunami a high as one meter in height. Further studies revealed that gauges recorded a small change in wave height right after the earthquake struck. However, no tsunami was noticed by the locals and no damage was caused by the said tsunami.

Damage and casualties

According to local information, 3,256 buildings and houses completely collapsed, 108 of them being schools, and about 500 others were seriously damaged to the point of being demolished soon afterwards.

suffered the full brunt having 193 buildings collapsed from the second earthquake, followed by Podgora with 111 and

Drašnice Drašnice is a tourist locality in southern Dalmatia, Croatia, located between Makarska and Ploče. The population is 339 (2011). The village lies at the base of the Biokovo mountain, at the ''Jadranska magistrala'', and across the strait is the ...

having 100 buildings collapsed. About 400 other buildings were spared by only suffering cracks in the walls and only needed reparations. The first earthquake killed four people, most likely from falling debris and collapsed walls. The second quake, which was much better documented, killed two people. One of them was Emil Marinović, 20 years of age when his house fell onto him in Podgora. Another person from Drašnice, 62-year-old Jure Prlac was killed after he was hit in a local landslide. In response, the

Yugoslav army The Yugoslav People's Army (abbreviated as JNA/; Macedonian and sr-Cyrl-Latn, Југословенска народна армија, Jugoslovenska narodna armija; Croatian and bs, Jugoslavenska narodna armija; sl, Jugoslovanska ljudska ar ...

sent 200 tents to accommodate the 3,500 people most afflicted, however the majority decided the flee the area and seek refuge in other areas. In the years that followed the area still greatly suffered from the effects of the earthquakes and more people left for other areas. At one point there were only 200 residents left in Makarska.

Impact

The local populace in the afflicted areas was forced to evacuate due to the heavy damage and the devastating consequences that were caused by the earthquakes. The effects of this event can still be observed, especially in Makarska and nearby Biokovsko Selo where the village is still very much silent. The elderly residents remember the event in shocking detail. The earthquake is also well known in seismic studies in Croatia. Ivan Hrstić, a local scientist, discussed the earthquake during a scientific conference in 2012.

References

{{Earthquakes in 1962 Earthquakes in Croatia

Makarska earthquakes Earthquakes in Yugoslavia Makarska earthquakes