Deputy Prime Minister Tomo Medved, who heads the task force dealing with the aftermath of the 29 December earthquake, said on Friday that the authorities had to date received 29,206 requests for examination of damaged buildings, and structural engineers had examined 11,800 of them.

On Thursday alone, they examined 1,902 buildings damaged by the earthquake, Medved told state radio.

According to official data, 2,231 people cannot stay in their homes because they are either heavily damaged or have been destroyed in the disaster.

Medved mentioned a series of aftershocks that were still intermittently felt in Sisak-Moslavina County, which makes the job of structural engineers more difficult.

The minister  said that many villagers in remote rural settlements were reluctant to leave their homes.