Eighty-one years ago, a very strong earthquake of magnitude 6,5 on the Richter scale occurred in Cyprus centered on Eastern Cyprus, Paralimni region on January 20, 1941.
The earthquake was centered in Dasaki Achnas, and had a focal depth of 55 kilometers.
The earthquake caused significant damage in the province of Famagusta, injuries to 24 people, death of animals and collapse of houses in Paralimni.
Damage was also caused in Nicosia and Larnaca while a small tsunami hit the coast of Israel.
As recorded by the press of the time in Paralimni which received the most significant blow, within 15 seconds 37 houses completely collapsed while almost 150 houses partially collapsed and 500 residents were left homeless.
The earthquake was felt throughout the Eastern Mediterranean.
According to the statements made today, June 10, on Sigma's "Front Page" show,
"The last noticeable earthquake we had was on January 21, 2021, magnitude 5 on the Richter scale and in the same area we had the catastrophic earthquake, in the same fault zone essentially the catastrophic earthquake of 41, which then had human injuries, animal deaths and house collapses in Paralimni and Famagusta but also damages in Nicosia and Larnaca.
I hope we don't have these again. I wish they were only noticeable and more frequent.
Since 1996, when we installed our seismological network, there are records of 11 earthquakes, over magnitude 4, you realize that there are dozens of smaller earthquakes.
FamagustaNews with information from ikypros.com