Kibkom North Cyprus Forum

The tragedy ongoing in Turkey and Syria seems so close to home. As possibly many others are l have been following the news intently and learnt a fair bit more these past days of fault lines in this region.

Last night I downloaded a free app named My Earthquake, configured for this region, with audible notification of quakes of 3.5 and over intensity in the region.

It is not possible to predict when an earthquake will occur. Don’t believe anyone who tells you otherwise. You can expect aftershocks, or further quakes in the hours and days after a large or largish quake has occurred. And it is possible to identify areas within regions where a quake can be expected at some time, in the vicinity of fault lines.

I have not felt an earthquake here in Cyprus. I don’t know why. My wife has, plenty of friends have and l read reports across the island of quakes been felt.

Anyway, In the early hours of this morning l was awakened by my app - l has set the audible notification to “Siren Long”. At first l thought the car alarm had gone off but soon realised it was coming from my phone. It was a warning of a 4.3 strength quake in eastern Turkey.

Looking at the recent logs in the app l was taken aback at how many tremors and quakes there have been over the past 48 hours.

I really hope our homes here have been built to withstand a strong earthquake. The tower blocks going up at some pace all around, it does make you wonder. So much is built to price, but at what price?

Certainly our Company say it is covered in Insurance, but there would not be a farthing forthcoming we know that!!! There are some houses around us, and two storey flats, that are built as they are in Japan i.e. on loose stones two foot deep, which in the event of a earthquake the property is supposed to slide quickly from side to side. The builder explained as best I could understand. Possibly someone on the forum knows better than I. ?