It was Sunday, March 22, 2020, early morning at about 6:30 AM. I was sleeping! Someone (that was my first thought) was so firmly shaking my bed that I jumped and set on its edge.
"Impossible!" - It was the next thought that in the following millisecond crossed my mind, as I have a large and hefty bed that cannot be moved without at least four strong men.
But what is going on?!
In a third millisecond, I was aware of how the walls were trembling. I saw the chandelier swung like a leaf in the wind. And then that sound of concrete and bricks cracking mixed with the noise of things falling all around me and as well in some more distant parts of the house.
In a fourth millisecond, I knew it's an earthquake. My brain was working like crazy. I was thinking of getting closer to some of the load-bearing walls of the house. It should be safer. But it was shaking too hard to move anywhere. Sitting on the edge of my bed, I froze.
Overwhelmed by the feeling and awareness of complete helplessness and absolute impossibility and inability to influence anything, the words start coming out from my mouth aloud.
"Lord Jesus, be merciful! Lord Jesus, be merciful! Lord Jesus, be merciful! Lord Jesus, be merciful! Lord Jesus,..."
I was repeating that sentence over and over again, waiting for the horrifying shakes to stop. I just hoped it would be soon, and soon enough, before everything becomes even worse.
It was an earthquake of 5.5 magnitudes by Richter, intensity (MMI - Modified Mercalli Intensity scale) VII (7), with an epicenter just a few kilometers far from the Zagreb's core city center.
They say it lasted only 10 seconds.
Not for me! My feeling was like it lasted forever!