Filenews 3 February 2022 - by Dora Christodoulou
A new strong earthquake was recorded an hour before midnight on Wednesday in the Pafos district, causing minor damage to premises and intense concern among the population after the recent 6.5 Richter seismic activity.
According to an announcement by the Department of Geological Review, the earthquake had an epicentre in the sea area of Cyprus, 53 km west -northwest of Polis Chrysochous and this time, with a focal depth of 24 km. The earthquake was felt in the Pafos district, slightly felt in the districts of Limassol and Nicosia and noticed in eastern Cyprus and the southern coast of Turkey.
It is rated as an aftershock of the strong earthquake with a magnitude of 6.5 on the Richter scale of January 11. It is recalled that a few days later after the great earthquake and specifically on January 28, there was an earthquake of 4.5 degrees on the Richter scale.
The new seismic activity caused great concern among citizens who contacted the Police asking for information. In the western low area of Paphos, some citizens reported minor damage to their premises, mainly the appearance of cracks.
With the first light of day today, crews of the District Administration of Pafos and on the instructions of the Prefect, Mary Lambrou, have begun a tour around the province to inspect the situation and record the reported problems. At the same time, a similar process is underway by police, fire brigade and civil defence crews, while local authorities are also dealing with issues concerning their communities.
From the point of view of Civil Defence, however, after the first inspection, the spokeswoman, Olivia Michaelidou, stressed that no damage has been recorded so far based on the contacts made with the District Administrations of Limassol and Paphos and other competent services involved.
"We contacted all the relevant services and fortunately no damage has been caused that worries us,"she stressed. ''What we always have in mind is that the earthquake is unpredictable and that as has been proven by the scientific data to date, observations are made and some statistics come out, however all this cannot lead us to a conclusion whether or not we will have an earthquake.
The Civil Defence in case of an earthquake activates the special national plan "Enceladus" which includes all the procedures followed by all the services involved, about 40 in total, to deal with the results of an earthquake".
