Series of Earthquakes off the Coast of Paphos

Off the coast of Paphos, five earthquakes occurred in the past 24 hours, two of which were noticeable — with magnitudes of 5.2 and 5.4. Experts estimate that if shocks of this strength had occurred not in the sea at a depth of 15 kilometers, but in Paphos itself or, for example, in Nicosia, many old buildings could have suffered serious damage or even collapsed.

Residents of Nicosia also faced additional consequences of the bad weather: due to the rain, there were power outages, roads turned into puddles, and sewer manholes overflowed. Despite this, meteorologists expect the rain to continue for another three days, after which sunny weather will return.

Although reinforcement and renovation of school buildings continues, the fate of residential buildings remains uncertain. Conducted borehole tests covered only a small portion of the buildings, while tens of thousands of houses remain unevaluated for seismic resilience.

Experts urge authorities to organize free inspections of buildings and give citizens the opportunity to reinforce their homes. Without such measures, they warn, the consequences of a possible earthquake in central Nicosia could be catastrophic.