Not one, not two, but three quakes in one day. Monday was another hit in the Groningen gas extraction area. In the middle of the night, the region was shocked by a 2.5 earthquake in Zeerijp, in the afternoon a 1.8 earthquake in Appingedam and in the evening there was another 2.2 earthquake in Zeerijp.
On Twitter it rained messages from residents who had been shaken awake from their beds and later in the day, with great surprise, saw two more quakes. In addition to fright, damage to the houses and the recurring feeling of insecurity among residents, three earthquakes in one day raise many questions.
“We more often see several quakes in one day, but three earthquakes, two of which can be felt, are rare,” says Läslo Evers, seismologist at the KNMI who monitors the quakes. From a magnitude of 1.5, the tremors are perceptible to residents. Above 2, the tremors are well felt and damage can occur to buildings. This year there have been 38 quakes in Groningen so far, six of which were with a magnitude higher than 2.
Are the quakes related?
Evers: “These quakes come from the heart of the gas field. But the earthquake of Appingedam is eight kilometers further than the two of Zeerijp. Then you talk about other underground faults causing the quakes. It is possible that the later earthquake in Zeerijp is a reaction to the earlier one. For an aftershock I think it is very big.”
Or are these quakes a warning of a bigger blow in the coming days?
“The area in Groningen is very capricious. Sometimes there are periods of two or three weeks when there are no tremors and then there are two tremors in one day. We cannot measure whether an earthquake will occur in the coming days or weeks. We simply don’t know.”
The gas tap closes and that also stops the tremors, right?
“Gas extraction in Groningen started in the late 1950s, early 1960s. The first quake took place only after thirty years, in 1991. Since then, there have been only more and more severe earthquakes. Tension in the gas field built up for years, once the quakes started, it didn’t stop.
“A lot of gas extraction leads to many earthquakes. But if you turn off the gas tap today, it doesn’t mean you won’t have tremors tomorrow. We do see that due to the reduction in gas extraction, the number and strength of tremors is decreasing.
“Severe tremors are still possible. It’s just like the Elfstedentocht. The chance of this in a warming climate is smaller, but there is still a chance of an Eleven Cities Tour. The number of tremors and their severity are decreasing, but the possibility of a major tremor remains.”
“These people didn’t ask for the quakes. It’s done to them’
Not one, not two, but three quakes in one day. Monday was another hit in the Groningen gas extraction area. In the middle of the night, the region was shocked by a 2.5 earthquake in Zeerijp, in the afternoon a 1.8 earthquake in Appingedam and in the evening there was another 2.2 earthquake in Zeerijp.
On Twitter it rained messages from residents who had been shaken awake from their beds and later in the day, with great surprise, saw two more quakes. In addition to fright, damage to the houses and the recurring feeling of insecurity among residents, three earthquakes in one day raise many questions.
“We more often see several quakes in one day, but three earthquakes, two of which can be felt, are rare,” says Läslo Evers, seismologist at the KNMI who monitors the quakes. From a magnitude of 1.5, the tremors are perceptible to residents. Above 2, the tremors are well felt and damage can occur to buildings. This year there have been 38 quakes in Groningen so far, six of which were with a magnitude higher than 2.
Are the quakes related?
Evers: “These quakes come from the heart of the gas field. But the earthquake of Appingedam is eight kilometers further than the two of Zeerijp. Then you talk about other underground faults causing the quakes. It is possible that the later earthquake in Zeerijp is a reaction to the earlier one. For an aftershock I think it is very big.”
Or are these quakes a warning of a bigger blow in the coming days?
“The area in Groningen is very capricious. Sometimes there are periods of two or three weeks when there are no tremors and then there are two tremors in one day. We cannot measure whether an earthquake will occur in the coming days or weeks. We simply don’t know.”
The gas tap closes and that also stops the tremors, right?
“Gas extraction in Groningen started in the late 1950s, early 1960s. The first quake took place only after thirty years, in 1991. Since then, there have been only more and more severe earthquakes. Tension in the gas field built up for years, once the quakes started, it didn’t stop.
“A lot of gas extraction leads to many earthquakes. But if you turn off the gas tap today, it doesn’t mean you won’t have tremors tomorrow. We do see that due to the reduction in gas extraction, the number and strength of tremors is decreasing.
“Severe tremors are still possible. It’s just like the Elfstedentocht. The chance of this in a warming climate is smaller, but there is still a chance of an Eleven Cities Tour. The number of tremors and their severity are decreasing, but the possibility of a major tremor remains.”
“These people didn’t ask for the quakes. It’s done to them’
Not one, not two, but three quakes in one day. Monday was another hit in the Groningen gas extraction area. In the middle of the night, the region was shocked by a 2.5 earthquake in Zeerijp, in the afternoon a 1.8 earthquake in Appingedam and in the evening there was another 2.2 earthquake in Zeerijp.
On Twitter it rained messages from residents who had been shaken awake from their beds and later in the day, with great surprise, saw two more quakes. In addition to fright, damage to the houses and the recurring feeling of insecurity among residents, three earthquakes in one day raise many questions.
“We more often see several quakes in one day, but three earthquakes, two of which can be felt, are rare,” says Läslo Evers, seismologist at the KNMI who monitors the quakes. From a magnitude of 1.5, the tremors are perceptible to residents. Above 2, the tremors are well felt and damage can occur to buildings. This year there have been 38 quakes in Groningen so far, six of which were with a magnitude higher than 2.
Are the quakes related?
Evers: “These quakes come from the heart of the gas field. But the earthquake of Appingedam is eight kilometers further than the two of Zeerijp. Then you talk about other underground faults causing the quakes. It is possible that the later earthquake in Zeerijp is a reaction to the earlier one. For an aftershock I think it is very big.”
Or are these quakes a warning of a bigger blow in the coming days?
“The area in Groningen is very capricious. Sometimes there are periods of two or three weeks when there are no tremors and then there are two tremors in one day. We cannot measure whether an earthquake will occur in the coming days or weeks. We simply don’t know.”
The gas tap closes and that also stops the tremors, right?
“Gas extraction in Groningen started in the late 1950s, early 1960s. The first quake took place only after thirty years, in 1991. Since then, there have been only more and more severe earthquakes. Tension in the gas field built up for years, once the quakes started, it didn’t stop.
“A lot of gas extraction leads to many earthquakes. But if you turn off the gas tap today, it doesn’t mean you won’t have tremors tomorrow. We do see that due to the reduction in gas extraction, the number and strength of tremors is decreasing.
“Severe tremors are still possible. It’s just like the Elfstedentocht. The chance of this in a warming climate is smaller, but there is still a chance of an Eleven Cities Tour. The number of tremors and their severity are decreasing, but the possibility of a major tremor remains.”
“These people didn’t ask for the quakes. It’s done to them’
Not one, not two, but three quakes in one day. Monday was another hit in the Groningen gas extraction area. In the middle of the night, the region was shocked by a 2.5 earthquake in Zeerijp, in the afternoon a 1.8 earthquake in Appingedam and in the evening there was another 2.2 earthquake in Zeerijp.
On Twitter it rained messages from residents who had been shaken awake from their beds and later in the day, with great surprise, saw two more quakes. In addition to fright, damage to the houses and the recurring feeling of insecurity among residents, three earthquakes in one day raise many questions.
“We more often see several quakes in one day, but three earthquakes, two of which can be felt, are rare,” says Läslo Evers, seismologist at the KNMI who monitors the quakes. From a magnitude of 1.5, the tremors are perceptible to residents. Above 2, the tremors are well felt and damage can occur to buildings. This year there have been 38 quakes in Groningen so far, six of which were with a magnitude higher than 2.
Are the quakes related?
Evers: “These quakes come from the heart of the gas field. But the earthquake of Appingedam is eight kilometers further than the two of Zeerijp. Then you talk about other underground faults causing the quakes. It is possible that the later earthquake in Zeerijp is a reaction to the earlier one. For an aftershock I think it is very big.”
Or are these quakes a warning of a bigger blow in the coming days?
“The area in Groningen is very capricious. Sometimes there are periods of two or three weeks when there are no tremors and then there are two tremors in one day. We cannot measure whether an earthquake will occur in the coming days or weeks. We simply don’t know.”
The gas tap closes and that also stops the tremors, right?
“Gas extraction in Groningen started in the late 1950s, early 1960s. The first quake took place only after thirty years, in 1991. Since then, there have been only more and more severe earthquakes. Tension in the gas field built up for years, once the quakes started, it didn’t stop.
“A lot of gas extraction leads to many earthquakes. But if you turn off the gas tap today, it doesn’t mean you won’t have tremors tomorrow. We do see that due to the reduction in gas extraction, the number and strength of tremors is decreasing.
“Severe tremors are still possible. It’s just like the Elfstedentocht. The chance of this in a warming climate is smaller, but there is still a chance of an Eleven Cities Tour. The number of tremors and their severity are decreasing, but the possibility of a major tremor remains.”
“These people didn’t ask for the quakes. It’s done to them’