The city of Zagreb was rocked by a series of earthquakes this morning, three in all, which has caused considerable damage in the Croatian capital at a time when its citizens were already dealing with the coronavirus emergency. Follow the live updates by Index.hr transmitted below:

10:01: “The most important thing at this point is to listen to the Government and the Headquarters. Listen to the news of those in charge. They exist because of situations like this, you can ignore everything else," President Zoran Milanovic said.

"The quake was 5.5 magnitude, the strongest in the last 140 years," said Prime Minister Plenkovic.

"There is a lot of damage. We urge citizens to exercise caution. We recommend that you stay in front of the buildings for the time being," Plenkovic said.

10:00: A15-year-old child is in critical condition.

Goran Roic, the director of the Klaiceva Children's Hospital, said on Sunday that the 15-year-old is in a very critical condition and is undergoing additional diagnostics.

"The child is very, very critical, but we are still doing further and doing everything we can," Roic told N1.

09:53: The Zagreb Office for Emergency Situations has urged citizens not to enter damaged buildings following three earthquakes in the capital on Sunday morning. 

"After the earthquakes in Zagreb this morning, we are informing citizens not to enter the damaged buildings. Teams of construction experts are coming to the scene, who will prioritize damage assessment of buildings and mark buildings according to the assessment. The priority is hospitals and later all other buildings. 

In addition, teams of construction workers have been hired to clean roads and corridors,” they reported.

"There is also a Special Search and Rescue Civil Protection Unit on the ground, and it is starting to work. All general-purpose Civil Protection units are invited to report to their assembly sites and take on tasks.

NO Krško is not damaged and the electricity supply is normalized and the failures are not large. Unfortunately, we cannot know when and what the subsequent earthquakes will be, but according to seismologists, they should not be stronger than the first earthquake.

We ask all citizens to remain calm and follow the notices of official sources. We ask all citizens to respect the coronavirus-related social distance recommendations in this situation as well," they said.

09:39: There was another earthquake, this time of 3.0 magnitude.

09:38: Contrary to initial reports that a 15-year-old child was the first victim of an earthquake in Zagreb, the child has apparently been resuscitated and is fighting for his life.

Index had initially reported breaking news that the 15-year-old boy died due to the earthquakes. Hina had confirmed that the child died at the Zagreb Institute of Emergency Medicine, having been transported there by ambulance following the collapse of the building at Djordjiceva 13.

There were three initial earthquakes, all a few kilometres north of Zagreb. The first had a magnitude of 5.3 at 06:24, the second 5.0 at 07:01, and a third at 07:41, measuring 3.7. There were two further quakes, both 3.0, 6km north of Zagreb at 09:04 and 09:10. Follow this official global earthquake monitoring website for the latest.

The Zagreb earthquake today comes at a critical time for Croatia, as it battles to stop the COVID-19 catastrophe currently happening in Italy. The Croatian authorities have imposed strict new rules, and Zagreb residents were advised to stay indoors and off the streets, public transport was largely cut, and efforts were being stepped up to enforce the required social distancing. 

And then, this. One of the most most worrying aspects of these earthquakes is the fallout from the hospital at Rebro, which was also damaged. 

What to do? Where to run? One of the scenes of confusion and fear in the immediate aftermath. Heartbreaking. 

We will follow the developments of the earthquake live here on this article. 

Our thoughts are with you, Zagreb. / Total Croatia News

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