The earthquake on the night of March 14 at the Eleveld gas field, which was closed at the end of last year, had a magnitude of 3.0 on the Richter scale, making it one of the heaviest ever. The Mining Damage Committee and the Mining Damage Institute Groningen (IMG) have received more than 3,000 damage reports so far and it is expected that this number will continue to rise.
The Mining Damage Committee received 2016 reports, the IMG 1103. Most of the damage reports come from Assen. A total of almost 2,500. There may be duplicates, because people have reported their damage to both authorities. “But they eventually reach the right counter,” the authorities say.
The precise area of effect of the earthquake is not yet known, but according to mayor Anno Wietze Hiemstra of Aa en Hunze, preliminary calculations indicate that it extends in a wide circle around Eleveld. Its borders run roughly through Gasselte, De Kiel, Appelscha, Norg and Annen.
“It is now expected that there are about 80,000 houses in that area,” says Hiemstra. An immense difference with the 2023 earthquakes near Ekehaar and Hooghalen. There were ‘only’ 180 houses in that effect area. The difference can largely be explained by the fact that the whole of Assen now falls within the circle.
