SHOULD we be panicking with all the seismic activity occurring around our island in Greece and Turkey?
Yesterday, an earthquake measuring 4.8 on the Richter scale occurred in the Aegean Sea off Turkey's western coast and close to the Greek island of Samos, but no casualties were reported. Ten days ago, an earthquake measuring 5.9 on the Richter scale occurred in the Aegean Sea off the coast of Turkey, killing one person.
Western Turkey has been on edge since October 17 when three violent quakes, measuring 5.7, 5.9 and 5.6 respectively, shook the area on the same day, leaving some 30 people injured.
Kyriakos Solomi, a seismologist at the Geological Survey Department, told the Cyprus Mail that the recent earthquakes in the region had no bearing on the earthquake threat for Cyprus.
“We cannot make a connection between the earthquake activity in the Aegean and the earthquake activity in Cyprus. We are in totally different zones and it is like comparing the earthquake activity in Pakistan or Indonesia to that of Cyprus, apart from the fact that we are not close enough to them to feel the force of their earthquakes.”
Cyprus is nevertheless in an earthquake zone, and the Geological Survey Department are on constant alert.
“We work seven days a week, 24 hours a day here at the department and we are constantly recording and researching the earthquake activity in the region. We record around 50 small earthquakes around Cyprus every month but it is still impossible for us to predict an earthquake because they occur very suddenly and without prior warning.
Last week and this weekend we had very little activity in our region.”
So what are the chances of a major earthquake striking the island? Solomi, who said Paphos was the most vulnerable area, says that although they cannot pinpoint an exact period when a powerful earthquake is most likely to strike, they can give a rough estimate based on research they have accumulated on earthquake activity in the region dating back over 2,000 years.
The department estimates that earthquakes measuring 5 to 5.5 on the Richter Scale occur on the island every 26 years while earthquakes measuring six and up on the Richter Scale occur every 75 years.
“Earthquakes measuring five and above on the Richter Scale can cause damage while earthquakes that are six and above are powerful and can result in fatalities,” added Solomi. “Cyprus’ last three major earthquakes occurred in 1953, 1995 and 1996. The one in 1953 in Paphos resulted in 63 deaths and measured 6.5 on the Richter Scale, the one in 1995 resulted in two deaths and measured 5.8 on the Richter Scale and the one in 1996 didn’t result in any victims but measured 6.5 on the Richter Scale.
“Fortunately for us, the epicenter of the 1996 earthquake was out to sea so we felt didn’t feel the true force of this powerful quake.”
Solomi added the island had come a long way in improving conditions to ensure that safety measures were implemented in the event of a big earthquake on the island.
“The island has done a good job in preparing for a major earthquake because as of 1986 buildings began being anti-seismic while in 1994 it became compulsory to include anti-seismic provisions in all new buildings.
“Also there has been an improvement in the various services around the island, like the Civil Defence, while there has also been an enhancement of our department so we are constantly observing earthquake activity in the region.”
Major earthquakes occure once every 26 years. Since we had 2 over the last decade does it mean we are safe? I guess not
I meant to say antiseismic. Thats how we say it in Greek. I guess this word did not exist in English until now. 
