After the initial shock caused by the 5.3-magnitude earthquake early this morning, the damage has begun to add up in Montenegro.
An earthquake with a magnitude of 5.3 on the Richter scale hit Montenegro at 4:06 a.m., the country’s Institute for Hydrometeorology and Seismology confirmed. The epicenter was five kilometers southwest of the town of Čarađe in the municipality of Nikšić, and the earthquake occurred at a depth of 14 kilometers.
The earthquake was felt throughout Montenegro, but it also disturbed the residents of neighboring Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Serbia and Albania.
As reported by the portal vijesti.me, the president of the local community Krstac Dragoljub Manojlović said that material damage was caused in Golija, where the epicenter of the earthquake was. One villager’s barn was demolished, and as Manojlović stated, locals are calling from every village on the Golija mountain and reporting that their houses, barns, and roofs were damaged.
“There are several landslides on the Nikšić – Krstac road,” Manojlović said, as reported by vijesti.me.
Due to the landslide, which was caused by the earthquake, the road to the Krstac border crossing towards Bosnia and Herzegovina was closed to traffic until the early hours of the morning.
According to the Montenegrin media, the locals cleared the road so that the police could pass.
Landslides were also recorded on several sections of the local road in Golija, where there are about 130 households.
At the press conference, the Montenegrin Institute for Meteorology and Seismology said that there was “excitation of the soil in the region”.
“We cannot predict whether an earthquake of the same strength or a stronger one can happen again. What we can say is that we had 30 subsequent earthquakes from 5.3 to 1.5 on the Richter scale,” said Milena Tomanović from the institute.
In Bosnia and Herzegovina, the earthquake was most felt in Bileća, municipal teams are on the ground, but so far no major damage has been recorded. However, as a precaution, the municipal government has decided that there will be no classes in schools today and that kindergartens will not be open.
Photo ©️ RTNK
