At approximately 6:24 AM CET on the morning of 22 March 2020, an earthquake of magnitude 5.3 Mw, 5.5 ML, hit Zagreb, Croatia, with an epicenter 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) north of the city centre.

The earthquake occurred during the coronavirus pandemic and complicated the enforcement of social distancing measures set out by the Government of Croatia.

[14] The earthquake had a magnitude of 5.3 Mw  and a depth of 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) according to Advanced National Seismic System[1] and 5.5 ML according to the Seismological Service of Croatia.

[24] President Zoran Milanović, Prime Minister Andrej Plenković, and Mayor Milan Bandić gave statements, and urged citizens who left their homes to keep a distance due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

The European Commissioner for Crisis Management Janez Lenarčič said that the Emergency Response Coordination Centre was in contact with Croatia's authorities.

[36] On 24 March, it was announced that the players of Croatia national football team had donated 4,200,000 Croatian kuna to the relief efforts.

Mayor Bandić said that 95 percent of the damage incurred by buildings in Zagreb's central areas could have been prevented by a façade renovation project for which, he said, he had been unable to find support.

[44] The following day, on 26 March, Minister of Construction and Physical Planning Predrag Štromar announced amendments to the law and a special fund to help Zagreb, in agreement with Mayor Bandić.

[45] Croatian Prime Minister Plenković met with Mayor Bandić on 30 March to discuss the consequences of the earthquake.

[49] On 30 March, Ministry of Construction and Spatial Planning announced it would finance repairs to damaged houses and flats.

[50] On 3 April, citizens of Zagreb, dissatisfied with Mayor Bandić's management of the city in the crisis situation, banged pots on their balconies at 7:00 PM CEST protesting under the initiative "Resign, it's your fault, it's been enough".

The draft was criticised for suspending the regulation of public tenders, not financing the repairs of structures whose owners own another property, requiring the residents to pay rent on flats offered as a temporary replacement, and lacking the qualifications to ensure that future earthquakes of the same strength will cause less damage.

[58] In particular, buildings made from reinforced concrete – which was introduced as a construction technique in Zagreb in the 1930s – withstood the earthquake with negligible damage.

The Croatian News Agency building was severely damaged, but it continued to operate and provide services to clients.

[63] The Kolmar building on Ban Jelačić Square, which housed the Croatian Writers' Association, lost one of its cupolas during the earthquake and the other had to be pulled down by firefighters as it was badly damaged.

[11] A 3-metre-wide (10 ft) sinkhole opened on the grounds of the Stubičke Toplice Special Medical Rehabilitation Hospital after the earthquake.

[70][67][71] Minister Štromar presented an estimate by the Civil Engineering Faculty in Zagreb on the total damage from the earthquake.

[88][89] In December the same year, Zagreb was further damaged by an Mw 6.4 earthquake whose epicenter was near Petrinja, 50 km (31 mi) from the capital.