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Help needed - Earthquake in Serbia

Dear Friends,

As you probably have heard already, Serbia was hit by an earthquake of 5.4 degrees magnitude on Richter scale, on November 3 this year. The epicenter was in the Kraljevo vicinity. The earthquake was felt in the better part of Serbia, but the town of Kraljevo suffered the most. Two persons have died, while over one hundred were injured. More than 4000 families have lost their homes.

The clearing of debris is under way. The streets are covered with chunks of concrete, glass, bricks, plaster. Secondary tremors, hundreds of them (The strongest reached 4.4 degree on the Richter scale) are still being felt. Parts of the city are without water and electricity.

People whose homes were destroyed are temporarily sheltered in tourist facilities on Goch Mountain, hotel "Termal" and military barracks. The earthquake damaged 450 out of 650 transformer installations, the majority of which are repaired, but 70 do not work yet. Parts of the city are without electricity and heat. The Public Health Center building was significantly damaged, unsafe to enter and laboratory equipment is being evacuated. Other hospital buildings were also damaged. Water pipes broke and forced evacuation of babies from the delivery ward. The military buildings were also damaged and soldiers are clearing debris. The schools in Kraljevo and surrounding villages are closed until further notice. Seven schools and four day care centers were damaged.

In the village of Vitanovac, which was the epicenter, 70 percent of structures were damaged. There were 850 households with about 2000 inhabitants in the village.

The Zicha monastery, which is under UNESCO protection, is also damaged but the main structure is not in danger. However, a crack on the northern side of monastery is visible, so the frescoes at the entrance are jeopardized. There are cracks and separation of frescoes from plaster on the main wall.

There is a state of emergency announced in Kraljevo!

RAS - International Serbian Organization is calling all people of good will to help all those suffering in Kraljevo and its surroundings, those who lost homes in this natural disaster.

If You are willing and able to help our people and send your donations, please, mail your check to ::

RAS - The International Serbian Organization
P.O. Box 31122
Bethesda, MD 20824 USA

NOTE ! All donations are tax deductible in the US and 100% of your donation will be sent to Kraljevo.

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