The residents of the Pafos district were worried by the earthquake, which was strongly felt in the area, but also in the whole of Cyprus, with an epicentre 50 kilometres west-northwest of Polis Chrysochous.
There are no reports of damage from the strong earthquake, measuring 6.1 on the Richter scale, which occurred at 3:08am, as Paphos prefect Mary Lambrou told the Cyprus News Agency.
According to Mrs Lambrou, the District Administration has started its communication with all the mayors of the Paphos District for confirmation. At the same time, he continued, due to the heavy rainfall, foremen and some technicians are on the ground to see if there were problems with landslides.
The Mayor of Polis Chrysochous Yiotis Papachristofi said for his part that no damage has been recorded from the earthquake in the Polis Chrysochous district.
"All the residents of Polis Chrysochous felt it, but fortunately no damage was recorded," he said. Some of them came out of their homes and despite the bad weather conditions stayed on the street for a short time, he said. He also recalled the great earthquake that struck Paphos province in 1995, noting that the experience of the previous time "was somewhat helpful in knowing how to react today at dawn".
The Mayor of Pegeia, Marinos Lambrou, said that at dawn "the nightmare of the earthquake woke up", which, as he said, "literally caught us all asleep". People were frightened, they came out of their homes, and there was intense anxiety, Mr Lambrou said. He pointed out, however, that the positive thing was that there was no damage of any kind. "We are as Cyprus in an earthquake zone and it is not strange to have earthquakes, but we are not used to high intensity earthquakes," he said. An earthquake, he added, is a phenomenon that cannot be predicted, but he recommended caution, noting that it is advisable not to run during an earthquake, to stay away from windows and glasses and for everyone to keep calm.
The chairman of the Pano Arodon Community Council, Matthaios Stefanou, told the Cyprus News Agency that the whole community was "on its feet" after its residents remembered the big earthquake on February 3, 1995, which caused a lot of damage to water pipes and electricity cables, while some elderly people were trapped in their homes. He described the night, difficult, as due to the prolonged rainfall it was impossible to get out of their houses, and after the earthquake, loud thunder began. We were worried, he said, about a second earthquake, perhaps a bigger one, while he wished that Cyprus would not experience such moments again.
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Resident of Geroskipou, Elena Panagiotou, described her experience of the earthquake, saying that she woke up at dawn "and everything was shaking". "The earthquake was long lasting and as a result the chandeliers of the house were shaking, it was something scary," she added. It was the first time the earthquake had been so strong, he continued, and said he had been "on his feet" all night.
In addition, Paphos Assistant Police Director Michalis Ioannou, said that yesterday shortly after 03:00 in the morning when the earthquake occurred, the patrols at the Paphos Police Directorate and local police stations were activated and checked the area and it was found that there was no damage to buildings and no injuries. So far, he said, no damage has been reported.
He also said that the police contacted the Civil Defence and no reports of damage were made there either. He added that the Paphos Police Directorate cooperates in such cases, as always, with the Civil Defence.
Source: KYPE
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