Magnitude 5.3 Earthquake Rocks Cyprus
The tremor originated approximately 20 kilometers northeast of Paphos, the island's prominent western tourism hub, striking at roughly 11:31 a.m. local time at a depth of 15 kilometers, data from the Geological Survey Department shows.
Aftershocks persisted for more than two hours following the primary event. Christodoulos Hadjigeorgiou, director of the department, said that "continuous seismic activity was recorded more than two hours later, but he considered the initial tremor to be the main shock."
The seismic waves reverberated far beyond Cyprus's borders, reaching Lebanon some 300 kilometers distant from the epicenter. Within Cyprus itself, the jolt was widely experienced across the island.
Civil Protection authorities documented infrastructure damage, reporting that "some houses in a village near the epicenter were damaged, but no injuries occurred." Communications infrastructure suffered temporary disruptions, while geological impacts included rockfalls from hillsides cascading onto the highway serving Paphos and adjacent routes.
Cyprus occupies a geologically volatile zone in the eastern Mediterranean, positioned along the Cyprus Arc where the Eurasian and African tectonic plates converge. Historical precedent underscores the region's seismic risk: a devastating 1953 earthquake near Paphos, estimated at magnitude 6.5, claimed roughly 40 lives, hospitalized around 100 persons, and obliterated multiple settlements. Contemporary seismic monitoring indicates the island and surrounding waters remain prone to recurring moderate-to-strong earthquake activity.
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