Cyprus was shaken and flooded on a wild Wednesday

A blustery Wednesday of weather and seismic activity saw Cyprus hit by two earthquakes measuring over five on the Richter scale, while large swathes of the island were also hit by torrential rain, flooding and storms.

The first earthquake occurred shortly after 11:30 am, and its magnitude reached 5.3 on the Richter scale, and its epicenter was in the village of Agia Marina in the Paphos region.

Although no major structural damage was recorded, people were seen exiting office buildings and homes as a precaution in the aftermath of the quake, with Hagia Marina Mukhtar Marius Stylianou confirming that the village at the epicenter of the quake escaped unharmed, and that its elderly residents were “fine.”

The governor of the Paphos region, Charalambos Petokopitis, said that the earthquake caused rocks to fall on the road between the town of Paphos and the nearby village of Tasada.

Problems were also reported in Cyprus' telecommunications networks, with the Cyprus Communications Authority (Cyta) reporting that there was “particularly unexpected increased traffic” on the network, and that as such, there had been “a few minutes of network congestion”.

“Cyta services that were affected for a few minutes are already operating normally,” Cyta said shortly after 1 p.m.

Meanwhile, civil defense spokesman Panayiotis Liassides confirmed during an appearance on Alpha TV that “there were no reports of serious damage or injuries,” and that there had been “small landslides but nothing serious.”

He added that Civil Defense was “monitoring the situation” and said that in the event of an earthquake, people should move to an open area and stay away from power lines where possible, before later saying that people should “calm down, avoid panic, and protect themselves.”

Once calm was restored, the skies opened, and heavy rain fell on Nicosia

As calm was restored, the skies opened, and heavy rain fell in Nicosia, in other inland areas, and in the northern slopes of the Troodos Mountains during the early afternoon.

The rain caused flash flooding on roads across the capital, with water pouring into streets and main roads alike, while power was cut to large swathes of the suburbs of Engomi and Strovolos.

In the suburb of Lakatamia, children on a school bus found themselves stuck on a flooded road, and the fire brigade had to intervene to remove them safely, while police closed Erythros Stavros Street and Alexandroupoli Street in Strovolos, both of which cross the Pedios River.

Fire brigade spokesman Andreas Kittis said on Wednesday evening that more than 60 phone calls had been made to the fire brigade requesting help during the storms, and most of these calls were requests to open drains and pump water away from the roads.

With large parts of the island now submerged, the day came to a close with a second strong earthquake, measuring 5.3 on the Richter scale, shortly after 4.30pm.

Director of the Geological Survey Christodoulos Hadgiorgiou told the Cyprus News Agency that the second major earthquake was “slightly weaker” than the first, although he stressed that there had been a “series” of smaller tremors throughout the day, and that this phenomenon “needs to be studied.”

He added that the earthquakes are expected to continue throughout the night, and that the Earthquake Monitoring Center of the Geological Survey Department will continue to monitor the situation.

The epicenter of the second strong earthquake was also in the Paphos area.

According to the Euro-Mediterranean Seismological Centre, more than 30 tremors were detected in Cyprus throughout Wednesday, two of which had a magnitude between four and five on the Richter scale.

Meanwhile, the head of Greece's Earthquake Planning and Protection Organization, Efthymios Lekkas, urged caution in the next 48 hours “because the nature of the faults is not always known.”

He said: “We know that rifts exist and intersect with terrestrial space, but we do not know what rifts exist in underwater space and how these rifts relate to each other.”

He also said that the African and Anatolian tectonic plate boundaries and the “Cyprus Arc,” a curved plate boundary to the south of the island where the African plate dips beneath the Anatolian plate, “could cause a significant earthquake,” potentially as high as eight on the Richter scale.

“According to historical data, we may have an earthquake with a magnitude of eight on the Richter scale, but this is a very extreme case. In 365 AD, an earthquake with a magnitude of eight occurred in Kourion, near Limassol, which completely destroyed southern Cyprus,” he said.

However, he said smaller earthquakes were likely, as the 1996 Paphos earthquake, which measured 6.8 on the Richter scale, seemed likely to be repeated.

In the 1996 earthquake, two people were killed by secondary causes, while in an earthquake of similar magnitude – 6.6 – in 2022, a total of 1,586 chickens died in the village of Kalypia in the Paphos region after panic among the flock led to a stampede.

What Are The Main Benefits Of Comparing Car Insurance Quotes Online

LOS ANGELES, CA / ACCESSWIRE / June 24, 2020, / Compare-autoinsurance.Org has launched a new blog post that presents the main benefits of comparing multiple car insurance quotes. For more info and free online quotes, please visit https://compare-autoinsurance.Org/the-advantages-of-comparing-prices-with-car-insurance-quotes-online/ The modern society has numerous technological advantages. One important advantage is the speed at which information is sent and received. With the help of the internet, the shopping habits of many persons have drastically changed. The car insurance industry hasn't remained untouched by these changes. On the internet, drivers can compare insurance prices and find out which sellers have the best offers. View photos The advantages of comparing online car insurance quotes are the following: Online quotes can be obtained from anywhere and at any time. Unlike physical insurance agencies, websites don't have a specific schedule and they are available at any time. Drivers that have busy working schedules, can compare quotes from anywhere and at any time, even at midnight. Multiple choices. Almost all insurance providers, no matter if they are well-known brands or just local insurers, have an online presence. Online quotes will allow policyholders the chance to discover multiple insurance companies and check their prices. Drivers are no longer required to get quotes from just a few known insurance companies. Also, local and regional insurers can provide lower insurance rates for the same services. Accurate insurance estimates. Online quotes can only be accurate if the customers provide accurate and real info about their car models and driving history. Lying about past driving incidents can make the price estimates to be lower, but when dealing with an insurance company lying to them is useless. Usually, insurance companies will do research about a potential customer before granting him coverage. Online quotes can be sorted easily. Although drivers are recommended to not choose a policy just based on its price, drivers can easily sort quotes by insurance price. Using brokerage websites will allow drivers to get quotes from multiple insurers, thus making the comparison faster and easier. For additional info, money-saving tips, and free car insurance quotes, visit https://compare-autoinsurance.Org/ Compare-autoinsurance.Org is an online provider of life, home, health, and auto insurance quotes. This website is unique because it does not simply stick to one kind of insurance provider, but brings the clients the best deals from many different online insurance carriers. In this way, clients have access to offers from multiple carriers all in one place: this website. On this site, customers have access to quotes for insurance plans from various agencies, such as local or nationwide agencies, brand names insurance companies, etc. "Online quotes can easily help drivers obtain better car insurance deals. All they have to do is to complete an online form with accurate and real info, then compare prices", said Russell Rabichev, Marketing Director of Internet Marketing Company. CONTACT: Company Name: Internet Marketing CompanyPerson for contact Name: Gurgu CPhone Number: (818) 359-3898Email: [email protected]: https://compare-autoinsurance.Org/ SOURCE: Compare-autoinsurance.Org View source version on accesswire.Com:https://www.Accesswire.Com/595055/What-Are-The-Main-Benefits-Of-Comparing-Car-Insurance-Quotes-Online View photos