The Dutch province of Groningen is tormented by earthquake. The earth began to shake for the umpteenth time, with a 3.4 magnitude earthquake in the Zeerijp area, ten kilometers from Delfzijl: a deep rumbling sound, followed by prolonged shaking and other small aftershocks. Apart from the earthquake itself, which was felt as far away as the German border, it was the cause of the strong local instability that was surprising. Decades of digging to extract gas had destroyed the subsoil and Groningen suddenly became an area at risk of earthquakes.
The cause is gas extraction
Seismic risks arose in Groningen with the extraction of gas from underground, with the first earthquake in 1986. More than two years ago, for this reason, the largest local gas field (and the largest in Europe) was closed. “We know that there is a direct link between earthquakes and gas extraction.
Luckily we can live without the Groningen gas field: this is why it is so important to close it, for human safety”, said Prime Minister Mark Rutte at the time, but the situation still has not changed. “There is still residual stress accumulated over decades of extraction underground,” seismologist László Evers explained to broadcaster Nos, pointing out that “every now and then, this stress is released along faults, causing new earthquakes.” In the past, the hand was forced too much and now the Earth is reacting.
Seismic risk is human error
It should be noted that, according to the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute, the Netherlands is not a region with a high earthquake rate: the fact that it is a direct result of human behavior is a warning. For residents and surrounding areas. This gives us another piece of evidence about how much human actions influence the Earth’s health and its biological mechanisms. If the earth starts to shake due to excess gas being extracted, something is clearly wrong.
© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
