1938 Bilogora earthquake
| UTC time | 1938-03-27 11:16:26 |
|---|---|
| Local date | March 27, 1938 |
| Local time | 12:15 (SEV) |
| Magnitude | 5.9 Mw[1] |
| Epicenter | 46°01′N 16°55′E / 46.01°N 16.92°E |
| Areas affected | Bilogora, Podravina |
| Total damage | material damage |
| Aftershocks | several |
| Casualties | 0 |
The 1938 Bilogora earthquake occurred on March 27, 1938 on the Bilogora mountain in the Podravina region of northwestern Croatia,[2] 7 km east-southeast of the Legrad, with a magnitude of 5.9 on the Moment magnitude scale (Mw .[1] Over the next month, there were five more weaker earthquakes in the area.
Damages
In the village of Rakitnica, 26 houses were destroyed, the same number were damaged, and only one building out of a total of 80 remained intact. The villages of Šemovci and Kegljevac suffered somewhat less, but very badly, and Hampovica, located in the middle of these places, miraculously survived best.[2] The bell tower collapsed and a large part of the church of St. Mary Magdalene in Kapela was destroyed.[3] The bell tower was only repaired in 2017, after numerous unsuccessful attempts.[4]
The following were particularly damaged: Koprivnica, Virje, Kloštar Podravski, Novigrad Podravski, Koprivnički Bregi, Đurđevac, also Bjelovar and Virovitica. There were no human casualties.[5] It was felt very strongly in Zagreb, Varaždin (damaged a school building there), Virovitica and elsewhere.[6]
The then Đurđevac parish priest Jakov Novosel wrote that the earthquake occurred at 12:15 p.m. and that it caused a lot of damage in Podravina, with houses destroyed, chimneys collapsed and walls cracked. The Old Town in Đurđevac was damaged, and the plaster of the then new St. George parish church fell off.[7] The earthquake and its consequences were also reported in newspapers at the time.[2]
References
- ^ a b "M 5.9 - 7 km ESE of Legrad, Croatia". United States Geological Survey. Retrieved 9 August 2025.
- ^ a b c Zvonar, Ivica (2016). "Osvrt na neke novinske izvještaje na potres u Podravini 1938. godine" [A review of some newspaper reports on the 1938 Podravina earthquake]. Podravina (in Croatian and English). 15 (29). Koprivnica: 161–167.
- ^ Vuković, Tomislav (4 July 2017). "Kako žive vjernici u zelenim bilogorskim zaseocima". Glas Koncila (in Croatian).
- ^ "Obnovljen toranj župne crkve sv. Marije Magdalene u Kapeli" [The tower of the parish church of St. Marije Magdalene u Kapeli]. opcina-kapela.hr (in Croatian). Municipality of Kapela. Archived 2023-02-01 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Podravina je jedna od najjačih potresenih regija: razoran potres može se dogoditi bilo kada" [Podravina is one of the most strongly shaken regions: a devastating earthquake can happen at any time]. podravski.hr (in Croatian). Archived 28 March 2021 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Posavec, Marko (27 March 2018). "Podravina: jak potres 1938" [Podravina: 1938 strong earthquake]. drava.info (in Croatian).
- ^ "Arhiva" [Archive]. podravske-sirine.com (in Croatian).