An earthquake in Cyprus is reported in a variety of ancient sources, although the dating provided by these accounts is inconsistent and sometimes ambiguous. Taken together, the evidence constrains the event broadly to the period 76–81 CE. Several later sources synchronized the Cyprus earthquake with a Great Plague in Rome. Suetonius probably provides the most reliable chronological anchor for the Roman plague, as he was approximately ten years old and living in Rome at the time. He dates the Great Plague to the reign of Titus (r. 24 June 79 – 13 September 81 CE). The Sibylline Oracles, which appear to be the most reliable source for the Cyprus earthquake itself, also seem to place the event within the reign of Titus.

Numismatic evidence provides a more tightly constrained date. Amandry (1993) notes that the Mint which was moved to Cyprus in 76 CE was moved back to Antioch in 80 CE. He suggests an earthquake in 78 CE was the reason for the move back to Antioch noting that the scarcity of coins produced in the 10th year of Vespasian’s reign (78/79 CE), the absence of coins from the first year of Titus’ reign (79/80 CE), and the reappearance of coins in the next year of Titus’ reign (80/81 CE) was likely due to interrupted production after the earthquake. Vespasian's reign ended when he died on 24 June 79 CE. Based on Amandry (1993), this would place the earthquake sometime in the year prior to 24 June 79 CE - i.e. June 78 - June 79 CE. When combined with the literary evidence, these chronological markers suggest that the earthquake in Cyprus likely occurred either in the final year of Vespasian’s reign or at the very beginning of the reign of his successor Titus. The apparent conflation of the Cyprus earthquake with the Roman plague appears to derive from later authors who ultimately relied on Eusebius. George Syncellus and Elias of Nisibis both cite Eusebius, while Orosius’ account reads as an abridged version of Eusebius. If Eusebius created a false synchronicity between the earthquake and the plague, the numismatic evidence should be regarded as more reliable. On this basis, the Cyprus earthquake most probably occurred between June 78 and June 79 CE.

One source, Philostratus, suggests that the earthquake may have been felt as far away as Tarsus in what is now Turkey. The Sibylline Oracles further report that an earthquake struck Cyprus, destroying both Paphos and Salamis. Since some sources refer to the destruction of three cities on Cyprus, Ambraseys (2009) speculated that the third city was likely Kition (Citium).

The Sibylline Oracles may also imply that the southern coast of Cyprus was affected by a tsunami associated with this earthquake. As a text composed largely as vaticinium ex eventu (prophecy after the fact), the Sibylline material preserves many historical events with accuracy. Antonopoulos (1980: 148–150), however, argued on the basis of the original Greek that the relevant passages refer instead to coastal inundation caused by a winter storm rather than a seismic tsunami. If a tsunami did accompany the earthquake, and if Philostratus’ reference to shaking in Tarsus refers to the same event, this would imply an epicenter offshore along the southern coast of Cyprus. Given the imprecision of Philostratus’ dating, however, this remains a speculative possibility.

Ambraseys (2009) and Guidoboni et al. (1994) propose differing dates for this earthquake, selecting 76 CE and 77 CE respectively. Neither study cites the numismatic evidence presented by Amandry (1993), and both therefore likely place the event too early.