WARNING: This is where EARTHQUAKES are possible in Serbia!

After the devastating earthquake that hit Italy, the question poses itself, is Serbia in danger of that natural disaster, and the acting deputy director of the Republic Seismological Bureau (RSZ), Branko Dragicevic, explained to Tanjug that there is high level of vulnerability, but not from the quakes like one in Italy that took away 250 lives. 

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According to Dragievic, the most vulnerable is central Serbia, where quakes happened up to 9 degrees on Mercalli scale, and 5.9 degrees on Richter scale.

The possible vulnerable spots are Svilajnac, Trstenik, Rudnik, Lazarevac and Kopaonik areas.

- Strong quakes happened there, and they are still expected. Earthquake in Kraljevo was three times weaker than earthquake in 1922 in Lazarevac, which had a magnitude of 5.9 on Richter scale - said Dragicevic to Tanjug.

He explains that the earthquake does not arise from nothing but the energy accumulated several years, depending on the magnitude, and during this period various signs of the earthquake appear, sometimes those are "swarms" of small earthquakes, or other geophysical changes.

Foto: Tanjug/AP

The trouble is that there are many, about 270 to 300 different sign, but there is no single form, and they can not be used as a safe way to predict quakes.

- There were quake predictions in L'Aquila, when many seismological officials were judged because they did not do as one Geophysicist predicted who measured the radon concentration, and in 2011, half of Rome left their houses due to earthquake warning. No body could have predicted this now because that technique is not 100% accurate and it is not in function yet - said Dragicevic.

RSZ built a digital hazard map with help of anyone who can and want to position their object on "Google maps" and read the expected value in the future. 

When asked under which conditions can we build buildings in our country, Professor of Civil Engineering Dragoslav Sumarac highlights that all objects that have a building permit and occupancy permit are safe from earthquakes in the zone in which they are located.

- Here people can be calm - Sumarac said who is the President of the Serbian Chamber of Engineers, stating that new regulations were signed in Serbia after the quake in Skopje in 1963; all building have to bee quake proof for certain magnitude, as modeled by the USA model.

Foto: Tanjug/AP

The problem, however, in an old building, especially with illegal buildings, which in Serbia, according to Sumarac, there are about a million and a half.

He explains that licensed engineers must calculate for each object their seismic resistance, which means that wall dimensions are determined, elevator cores, as well as the pillars , because those elements suffer the most during quakes.

- Euro code 8 has been introduced in Europe and it deals with seismic of turbulent areas, which are mostly Italy, Greece, Balkan.., and the engineers Serbian Chamber of Engineers are trained to work on these and Eurocodes - added Sumarac.

Will the strong earthquake take the characteristics of the great disaster is purely on human factor. In a way, the population must be protected before the earthquake, and all should be informed in what seismic zone they live in, where they build objects, to secure everything, recognize safe places they home in advance where they can seek cover.

When earthquake happens, advises Dragicevic, we should move, in older buildings at the doorpost, while there are less massive walls in new buildings.

- In the case of earthquake do not run, stay calm, kneel down on the fool, cover the head and neck with arms, hide in the corner of the room where the wall is more massive, move away from the glass surfaces - said he.

Then wait for earthquake to stop and only then leave the building and walk away from it, and under no case go under the power lines, trees or underpass.

(Telegraf.co.uk /Tanjug)