Cyprus was hit by an earthquake on Thursday afternoon, according to multiple reports from around the island.
Nothing official has been announced yet.
There were no immediate reports of damage.
According to the European Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) the quake was a magnitude 5.3 on the Richter scale at a depth of 60km and 41km east-south-east of Nicosia.
The tremor occurred at around 4.27pm and was felt by residents of high rise buildings in, Nicosia, forcing some to evacuate.
Comments submitted to the EMSC website by residents in Cyprus said:
“All furniture in house were rocking. Lasted at least 20 secs,” said one.
“Was wondering about the noise and then saw the lamps and windows shaking,” said another.
A third contributor said: “Apartment building started shaking and items in the house were vibrating or moving”.
“We live on the top floor of a two story house and the whole house shook,” said another.
“I was sat on my sofa, the TV stopped broadcasting for a moment then the sofa shook,” another added.
Cyprus is an in earthquake-prone zone but strong tremors are not common. The highest registered in recent years was a magnitude of 6.3 in 1996 but it caused little damage.
