Magnitude 4.6 quake causes minor damage along coastal Croatia

A moderate 4.6-magnitude earthquake has caused panic but only minor damage after hitting Croatia's central Adriatic coast in the region of Split, officials said on Friday.

The quake hit a few minutes before 2.00 pm local time (11pm AEDT), with the epicentre underwater some eight kilometres west of Split, the country's seismological service said.

It was felt along the central coast and on nearby islands.

No one was injured in the quake while only minor damage, such as cracked walls or broken windows, was reported, Split mayor Ivo Baldasar said.

"Split had no major tremors in its history so we hope it will remain so," Baldasar told reporters.

Many panicked residents of Croatia's second largest town rushed into the streets or squares. Some parts of the town were briefly without power while schools and some public institutions were closed in the afternoon.

"The tremor was felt rather strongly, in our apartment all things fell from the shelves," one Split resident told online portal Index.

The most recent devastating quake in the Balkans hit the Macedonian capital Skopje in 1963. It killed around a thousand.