Residents near Loppersum report shaking and terror: and it still isn’t the largest quake to have hit the Province recently
Over the last ten years or so, residents in the northern part of the Province of Groningen have reported continuous earthquakes, which the KNMI (Koninklijk Nederlands Meterologisch Insituut) notes as ‘induced’. An ‘induced’ earthquake is one that has no relation to tectonic plate movement, and in Groningen and parts of Friesland, the gas extraction industry is wholly to blame for the quakes.
Emotional reactions poured after another heavy earthquake of 2.7 in province of Groningen near Loppersum: “What an incredible blow!”, said one. “My heart is in my throat…. I want to get out of here !”, wrote Annalies, another resident on twitter. The reactions to the earthquake in Loppersum on Tuesday night were emotional, reports the GIC.
The earthquake on Tuesday evening had a magnitude of 2.7 on the Richter scale, reports the KNMI. Tens of quakes have hit the region roughly between Delfzijl on the Wadden Sea coast, Winsum, and Scheemda.
Many reactions poured in after the worst earthquake of 2020, which was felt in a large part of the province, ranging from the city of Groningen to Delfzijl and Warffum.
Top 5 strongest earthquakes in Groningen:
No matter how heavy and violent the quake on Tuesday afternoon was, it is not in the top 5 in terms of strength. The most powerful earthquakes in the province of Groningen were:
1. 2012 in Huizinge, magnitude 3,6
2. 2006 in Westeremden, magnitude 3,5
3. 2018 in Zeerijp, magnitude 3,4
4. 2008 in Loppersum, magnitude 3,2
5. 2013 in Garrelsweer, magnitude 3,2
Recently more political will has been put behind the movement to ‘turn the taps off’, and stop the widescale extraction of gas from Northern Dutch gas fields, which has been going on since around the 1960’s. In recent years the quakes have led to the destruction and re-building of the village of Overschild, a Frisian man living in Groningen going on hunger-strike against the quakes; and the announcement of the winding-down of one gas extraction company, that is jointly owned by the Dutch government, Exxon Mobil, Shell, and others.
More information about gas extraction-induced quakes can be found (in Dutch) at the KNMI website