GOVERNMENT geologist Polis Michaelides warned yesterday a tsunami could hit Cyprus if a powerful enough earthquake occurred around the island.
Some people have dismissed the possibility of a powerful tidal wave hitting the island’s coast as highly unlikely, but Michaelides told the Cyprus Mail those people would have to prove their theory.
“Cyprus is an earthquake zone. Therefore, the possibility of a tsunami striking is there. Of course, the size of the tsunami if unpredictable, but if you look at the tremors and earthquakes happening around us in the Aegean Sea and Turkey, you have unfortunately to say that it could happen to us.
“Those who say that the possibility is highly unlikely should prove it.”
Asked which areas could be affected by such a destructive tidal wave, Michaelidou said it could be any coastal town on the island.
“If you look at the sea level in towns like Larnaca or Limassol then you can imagine the destruction that would occur. Paphos, on the other hand, could have its advantages and disadvantages. On the one hand, its coastline sweeps upwards, so perhaps the high ground levels could pin back some waves. On the other hand, however, Paphos is in a higher earthquake risk zone, compared to that of Larnaca and Limassol so the possibility of it happening could be higher.”
According to a research report conducted by the University of Duisburg-Essen in Germany in 2002, the last tsunami hit Cyprus almost 300 years ago in the Akamas peninsula.
“A bimodal tsunami sediment with a sandy matrix but accompanied by well rounded flat pebbles and cobbles, which show an orientation of their longest axes, is present along the west coast of the Akamas peninsula on Cyprus,” the report said.
“The tsunami could be dated to 1650-1700 AD. Sediment units south of the Lara peninsula with large well-rounded boulders derived from the foreshore resemble the same orientation of the long axes of the boulders. Here, the coarse fragments may constitute 30-60 per cent of the tsunami sediments.
“Several bays in west Cyprus were filled by the tsunami with a similar mixture of sand and well-rounded floating pebbles from the foreshore, but here sand dominates the deposits with at least 80 per cent.”
The director of the Limassol Civil Defense unit, Christos Pelekanis, told the Cyprus Mail that the city was well-prepared to handle any situation, adding Cyprus was very organised, well co-ordinated and ready to handle any possible earthquake or tsunami.
“We are always on alert in the event of anything happening in Limassol. We practice drills regularly and we always have guidelines available to inform the public on what to do in case any kind of phenomenon strikes. We are constantly in contact with the seismic centre in Cyprus so they can inform us, if of course there is enough time, of a possible tsunami heading our way and we can alert the public though the media, the sirens, which can also send out voice messages, or by assembling the police, fire departments and ourselves to evacuate the area.”
According to UNESCO, throughout history earthquakes have repeatedly destroyed cities along the eastern and southern coasts of Cyprus. So far during the 20th century, 12 shocks having magnitudes of six or greater have left more than 100 people dead and economic losses of over several million pounds. The most recent serious earthquake in September 1953 struck Paphos, leaving 63 dead, 200 injured and many damaged buildings, with another less catastrophic earthquake hitting Cyprus in 1996 and killing two people. Two of the strongest recorded earthquakes in the eastern Mediterranean region have occurred in the last 10 years, with one of them being the 1996 earthquake in Cyprus.
