A light earthquake was measured at Aarle-Rixtel on Tuesday afternoon. It is a quake of 1.8 on the Richter scale. But the chance that people have felt it is not very great. “It is related to the fracture system in the area,” says Läslo Evers, earthquake expert of the KNMI.
The vibrations were observed on Tuesday a little after four hours. The chance that residents have felt the quake is small. Earthquakes can be felt from strength 1.5 to 2 on the Richter scale. The depth is also estimated at nine kilometers. “He can just be felt. But the deeper a quake, the less felt it is,” explains Läslo Evers. He is the head of the Seismology department of the KNMI.
According to Evers, it is a natural quake. The weather institute has not yet had any concrete reports from people who have felt the quake.
In the area where the quake was measured is the Peelrand break. That is a geological fault line near the Peel. This runs roughly from Roermond to Oss and separates the higher Peelhorst from the slowly lower Roerdalslenk.
The seismologist suspects that the quake can be linked to this fault line. “In the area there are a number of fractures in the surface, of which the Peelrand break is the largest. We are not one hundred percent sure if it is that fault line, but at least it depends on the fracture system.”
Earlier earthquakes
It is not often that an earthquake is measured in our province. The most recent comes from 2023. Then Mariahout was measured a quake of 1.9 on the Richter scale. For other earthquakes we have to go back a little further in time. In 1999 there was an earthquake, also in Mariahout, in 1975 in Mierlo and in 1932 there was an in Erp. “It is certainly not something that we regularly see in this area.”
