Earthquakes in the Netherlands occur mostly in the southeast and northeast of the country, with mostly

tectonic Tectonics (; ) are the processes that control the structure and properties of the Earth's crust and its evolution through time. These include the processes of mountain building, the growth and behavior of the strong, old cores of continents ...

earthquakes in the southeast and induced earthquakes in the northeast. The

Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute The Royal Dutch Meteorological Institute ( nl, Koninklijk Nederlands Meteorologisch Instituut, ; KNMI) is the Dutch national weather forecasting service, which has its headquarters in De Bilt, in the province of Utrecht, central Netherlands. ...

started with seismic registrations in 1904. The heaviest earthquake was the

1992 Roermond earthquake The 1992 Roermond earthquake occurred on 13 April, around 3:20 AM (1:20 UTC) with a moment magnitude of 5.3 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (''Severe''). Striking on the Peel Boundary Fault, a normal fault near Roermond, it was the s ...

with a magnitude of 5.8.

Seismic registration

The first time that seismic activity in the Netherlands was registered by the

(KNMI) in

De Bilt De Bilt () is a municipality and town in the province of Utrecht, Netherlands. It had a population of in . De Bilt houses the headquarters of the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (KNMI). It is the ancestral home and namesake for the pro ...

was on 26 June 1904.

Tectonic earthquakes

The natural earthquakes that occur in the southeast of the Netherlands are caused by active rifts of the European Cenozoic Rift System. The

in the southeastern province of

Limburg Limburg or Limbourg may refer to: Regions * Limburg (Belgium), a province since 1839 in the Flanders region of Belgium * Limburg (Netherlands), a province since 1839 in the south of the Netherlands * Diocese of Limburg, Roman Catholic Diocese in ...

was the heaviest registered earthquake in the Netherlands. It had a magnitude of 5.8 and occurred in

Roermond Roermond (; li, Remunj or ) is a city, municipality, and diocese in the Limburg province of the Netherlands. Roermond is a historically important town on the lower Roer on the east bank of the river Meuse. It received town rights in 1231. Ro ...

on 13 April 1992.

Induced earthquakes

Since 1986, there have been around 1,000 induced earthquakes in the northeast of the Netherlands caused by the exploitation of the

Groningen gas field The Groningen gas field is a natural gas field in Groningen province in the northeastern part of the Netherlands. With an estimated 2,740 billion cubic metres of recoverable natural gas it is the largest natural gas field in Europe and one of the ...

near

Slochteren Slochteren () is a village and former municipality with a population of 15,546 in the province of Groningen (province), Groningen in the northeast of the Netherlands. On 1 January 2018, Slochteren merged with Hoogezand-Sappemeer and Menterwolde, f ...

. The heaviest registered earthquake in the northeastern province of

Groningen Groningen (; gos, Grunn or ) is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen (province), Groningen province in the Netherlands. The ''capital of the north'', Groningen is the largest place as well as the economic and cultural centre of t ...

had a magnitude of 3.6 and occurred in

Huizinge Huizinge () is a village with a population of 100 in the municipality of Eemsdelta in the province of Groningen in the northeast of the Netherlands. On 16 August 2012, the heaviest induced earthquake in the Netherlands with a magnitude of 3.6 o ...

on 16 August 2013. This event count shows a remarkable exponential growth in time, which would possibly lead to one event per day in 2025. While moderate in magnitude, the sheer number of events acts as a physical stressor to living conditions and gives an adverse outlook long term on structural integrity of homes and buildings. On March 29, 2018 the government therefore announced it would shut down the gas extraction on this field entirely by 2030 at the latest. It is projected the normal exploration will end by 2022, while still serving as a reserve for exceptionally cold winters. After peaking in 2013 the number of induced earthquakes with a magnitude > 1,5 has been decreasing.
, van Putten, M.H.P.M., van Putten, A.F.P., & van Putten, M.J.A.M., 2016, Earthquakes and Structures, 11, 861

Heaviest earthquakes

Since 1904, there were seven earthquakes in the Netherlands with a magnitude of 4.0 or higher. All were noninduced earthquakes in the southeastern provinces of

and

North Brabant North Brabant ( nl, Noord-Brabant ; Brabantian: ; ), also unofficially called Brabant, is a province in the south of the Netherlands. It borders the provinces of South Holland and Gelderland to the north, Limburg to the east, Zeeland to t ...

.Geïnduceerde aardbevingen in Nederland

, 2013. Retrieved on 17 March 2015.

References

External links

* {{Europe topic, List of earthquakes in

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

Earthquakes An earthquake (also known as a quake, tremor or temblor) is the shaking of the surface of the Earth resulting from a sudden release of energy in the Earth's lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, fro ...