Inhabitants of Slovenia last year felt more than 161 earthquakes with the epicentre in Slovenia and slightly more than 20 earthquakes with the epicentre outside Slovenia, according to data for 2020 released by the Slovenian Environment Agency.

The strongest earthquakes felt by Slovenians in 2020 were the one that struck Zagreb in March and the one that hit Petrinja in December and was felt in most of the country, but apart from inhabitants, especially those in southern areas of Slovenia, feeling uneasy, there was no major damage.

The strongest “domestic” earthquake occurred near Cezsoca on 17 July, and it was a magnitude 3.9 earthquake with intensity of IV according to the European Macroseismic Scale (EMS).

Slovenia is located in an area of significant tectonic activity because its territory is at the intersections of three tectonic units: the Alps, the Dinarides and the Pannonian Basin, and most of Slovenia on the smaller Adriatic Plate.

Following the recent earthquake in Petrinja, Prime Minister Janez Jansa announced that civil protection services would undergo extensive training in 2021 in case a stronger earthquake occurs.

One of the strongest earthquake in Slovenia occurred on Easter Sunday 1895, destroying most of Ljubljana. Seven people were killed by that disaster and several more during rescue operations and while clearing the rubble.

The Easter earthquake in Ljubljana occurred on 14 April 1895 at 8.17 p.m. at a depth of 16 kilometres, it was a 6.1 magnitude earthquake and caused damage within a radius of 50 kilometres, with greatest losses in human lives and material damage being reported in Ljubljana.

The Ljubljana quake was felt by citizens of Vienna in Austria, of Assisi and Florence in Italy, and even by citizens of Split.

Ljubljana then had a population of 31,000 living in about 1,400 buildings, none of which were taller than four floors. Ten percent of building collapsed or were so damaged that they had to torn down.

That earthquake spurred a renaissance in construction in Ljubljana and its centre, which started to take shape we are familiar with today.