Limassol shaken by two quakes in 24 hours

Two low-intensity earthquakes rattled Limassol in less than 24 hours, which residents felt putting the town on the alert.

On Monday, the Cyprus Seismological Centre recorded a 2.4 magnitude earthquake that shook northern Limassol after being rocked by a magnitude 2.6 quake on Sunday.

In both cases, no structural damage or injuries were reported.

The seismological centre said that Monday’s quake, recorded at 09:07 am, measured 2.4 with an epicentre 6 km north of Limassol and a depth of 7 km.

Sunday’s quake was recorded at 13.25 and was felt mainly around Limassol.

The Cyprus Geological Survey Department said Sunday’s earthquake measuring 2.6 was in the sea area off Limassol, 4 km southeast of the town, at a depth of 13 km.

It was not immediately clear if Monday’s tremor was an aftershock of Sunday’s quake.

There were several smaller aftershocks after the initial quake on Sunday, with the strongest measuring 1.9 on the Richter scale.

The latest quakes come after a larger one, measuring 4.9 on the Richter Scale, two weeks ago on the 10 June that rattled the whole island and was felt in Syria and Turkey.

In January, Cyprus was shaken by an earthquake measuring 6.1 in magnitude — one of the strongest quakes ever recorded.

It was the biggest earthquake to shake the island since a 6.8 on the Richter scale quake struck Paphos in October 1996, when two people died – the strongest in the previous 100 years.

Cypriot authorities urge people to remain calm but vigilant, noting that the island is situated in a seismogenic zone where earthquakes are possible at any time.

Cyprus is a secondary earthquake-prone zone, but strong tremors over 4 magnitude are uncommon.

Another sizeable 5.1 magnitude earthquake shook Cyprus on 3 February, 53 km northwest of Polis, at a sea depth of 24 kilometres.