Paphos rattled by 3.9 offshore quake

Paphos was shaken by an earthquake recording a magnitude of 3.9 in the early hours of Wednesday, with no structural damage or injuries reported.

The Cyprus Geological Survey Department said the quake measuring 3.9 on the Richter Scale occurred at 04:11 am, 20 Km in the sea area off Paphos and at a shallow depth of 5 kilometres and was mostly felt in Paphos and lesser in the Limassol district.

The earthquake was also felt in the capital, Nicosia and Larnaca, said the Seismological Centre.

Wednesday’s quake in Paphos follows a series of quakes in the region in recent months.

A 3.9 and 4.0 magnitude quake were recorded on 19 and 24 November, along with several aftershocks in the area.

Earlier in the year, on 11 January, Paphos was rattled by a 6.5 magnitude earthquake in the same area, with aftershocks recorded until the end of the summer.

The 6.5 magnitude earthquake in January was one of the strongest quakes ever recorded.

It was the biggest earthquake to shake the island since a 6.5 tremor struck Paphos in October 1996, when two people died – the strongest in the previous 100 years.

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

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

The biggest quake in recent years was a magnitude of 6.8 in 1996, killing two people in Paphos.

The Geological Survey Department said it was monitoring activity following Wednesday’s quake.