Cistern Destruction Earthquake

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Balandier and Guintrand (2023:64) used ceramic evidence to date both the construction and subsequent destruction of a cistern on Fabrika Hill in New Paphos to the 2nd century CE. They attributed the destruction to a 2nd-century earthquake and suggested that it was “probably the one that occurred during the reign of Hadrian,” which they place in 127 CE; however, the specific event being invoked is unclear. Neither Ambraseys (2009) nor Guidoboni et al. (1994) list an earthquake in Cyprus during this period. While Guidoboni et al. (1994) note that the Historia Augusta records, in very general terms, that various disasters occurred during Hadrian’s reign (117–138 CE), these events are neither precisely dated nor geographically specified and are interpreted as affecting the Italian mainland. A further report of an earthquake around c. 130 CE, often placed in Palestine, is spatially and temporally ambiguous and is catalogued in this Earthquake Encyclopedia as the Eusebius Mystery Quake.

By Jefferson Williams