It is a bit premature to see if there will be any effect on the Cypriot arc from the strong seismic tremor, which occurred in the Ghazantieb region (near the border with Syria) with a magnitude of moment Mw =7.8, the Director of the Geological Survey Department, Christodoulos X'' Georgiou, told the KYPE.
In response to a question about the strong earthquake that struck the region of Turkey near the border with Syria in the early hours of the morning and was particularly felt in Cyprus and how it affects Cyprus and the wider region in general, Mr. X'' Georgiou said that it creates worry in the world. “We are talking about large earthquakes that could activate some faults. It is a bit premature to see if there will be any effect on the Cyprus bow. We have to be patient. What we always say is that we are in a seismic area. So, the earthquake is in our daily life and I hope they continue to be only noticeable, without being destructive”, he added.
“Unfortunately, we cannot predict exactly when an earthquake will happen, but we have to be on hand,” he noted.
Answering a question from which fault originated the strong earthquake in Turkey, Mr. X'' Georgiou said that the earthquake actually occurred at the junction of three faults. “One is the Dead Sea fault, the other is the Eastern Anatolian fault and the Cyprus arc,” he added.
Asked to recall how a seismic activity manifests itself, Mr. X'' Georgiou said that it is the rupture of a fault, i.e. the displacement of the tectonic plates.
“From what is seen in this particular case, it should have been a horizontal slide and in practice a fairly large part of the fault that gave this the great earthquake,” he said.
When asked how many days this seismic activity can continue, Mr. X'' Georgiou said that “if we take into account that we had another earthquake on the scale of 7.5 at 12:24 and we have a series of several earthquakes, we should be patient to see the seismic activity”.
“It is not easy to say at the moment that we have post-seismic activity, it will dissipate immediately. This thing can take whole months until the specific rift comes to some calmness”, he noted.
Asked if there would be knock-on effects and regional areas would be affected, Mr. X'' Georgiou said that they could potentially be affected.
Whether it will actually be affected or not, he continued, no one can know. . “Potentially it can,” he added.
The Director of the Geological Survey Department recommended patience and vigilance.
“And when an earthquake occurs in our area, we should deal with it calmly,” he concluded.
It is noted that today, Monday at 03:17 local time, the seismological stations of the Department of Geological Survey recorded the very strong earthquake that occurred in the area of ​​Gazadieb (on the border with Syria) with a magnitude of moment Mw=7.8.
According to a statement from the Department of Geological Survey, the earthquake was strongly felt at a distance of almost 600 kilometers from its epicenter (Turkey, Iraq, Georgia, Israel, Syria, Lebanon, Egypt, and Cyprus). In Cyprus it was strongly felt throughout the island.
The strong earthquake was followed by a strong earthquake at 03:28 (Mw=6.7), five earthquakes with magnitudes greater than 5 and a number of earthquakes with smaller magnitudes.
Also, according to a new announcement by the Department of Geological Survey, today Monday and 12:24 local time, the seismological stations of the Department recorded the very strong earthquake that occurred in the region of Gaziantep, Turkey, near the border with Syria, with a magnitude of moment Mw=7.5.
It is included in the morning seismic sequence (same epicentral area) and was felt throughout the Eastern Mediterranean, in a radius of more than 600 kilometers from its epicenter, it is added.
In Cyprus, it was strongly felt throughout the island, reports the announcement.
It is noted that, since the origin of the earthquake that occurred at 03:17, more than 150 earthquakes with magnitudes greater than 3 have been recorded.
The phenomenon is ongoing and monitored by the Seismological Center of the Geological Department overview.
