Preface to the Special issue “The 22 March 2020 ML 5.5 Zagreb earthquake”

Abstract

On a cold spring morning of 22 March 2020 amidst the COVID-19 lockdown residents of Zagreb were awoken by violent shaking. As it turned out, the source of this shaking originated from an earthquake of moderate magnitude (ML 5.5, Mw 5.4) located just northeast of the Zagreb city centre. Although moderate in strength (magnitude), it caused heavy damage to buildings and infrastructure in the epicentral area and in the historical part of the city. Unfortunately, one life was lost under a collapsed wall in a historic building. Due to heavy impact the earthquake has had on life in Zagreb and the Croatian economy, as well as the unique opportunity to use quality collected seismological data to address important questions relevant to the estimation of seismic hazard in the Croatian capital of Zagreb, it seemed only logical for the Editorial board to dedicate a special issue to this event.