UNUSUAL PHENOMENON

Worrying scenes after the earthquake in Croatia: The earth opened up, the ground became liquid

A large number of photos appeared on social networks, which show how the "land literally opened"

The land is cracking. Facebook

A. Aljimi

The devastating earthquake and series of tremors that have been going on in Croatia since Monday have brought unrest into the lives of residents of the entire Sisak-Moslavina County, and locals are worried about the split and the land that literally opened in the villages of Palanjek and Tišina.

In the 6.2 magnitude earthquake that hit Croatia yesterday, in addition to Petrinja, which is in ruins, Sisak was also severely damaged.

A large number of photos appeared on social networks, which show how the "land literally opened".


Ovi rastvori zemlje u Palanjku su zabrinjavajući!!! Sa jedne strane kroz cijelo selo se zemlja ulegla, na drugoj strani ceste kroz cijelo selo zemlja se rastvorila i izlazi mulj i voda... 😢💔🙏 Palanjek u ♥️

Posted by Matea Mihić on Tuesday, December 29, 2020

A video taken yesterday, shared on social media after the earthquake, shows an unusual phenomenon of soil liquefaction, which occurs during strong earthquakes.

The video shows frightened locals in the open, while cracks form in the ground under their feet and the ground becomes liquid.


Palanjek

Posted by Konjević Danijela on Tuesday, December 29, 2020

- These solutions of soil in Palanka are worrying! On one side, the ground has settled through the whole village, on the other side of the street, through the village, the ground has dissolved and mud and water are coming out - a woman wrote with worrying photos.

Although to the uninitiated it may seem as if a sewer has spilled, in fact there is a change in the mechanical properties of the soil due to soaking, whereby it loses strength and becomes liquid.

This phenomenon occurs due to a decrease in stress between soil particles, and is caused by the increased pressure caused by earthquakes.

Although this phenomenon has been known for a long time, especially its negative effect, when the soil completely loses its bearing capacity, it was only in 1964, after the earthquakes in Niigata, Japan and Alaska, that its destructive effect was noticed by seismologists and civil engineers.