2013/02/13 by Maurice H. P. M. van Putten, van Putten, Maurice H. P. M., Anton F P. van Putten +1
Earth and Planetary Sciences · Environmental Science · #Atmospheric and Environmental Gas Dynamics #FOS: Physical sciences #Geophysics (physics.geo-ph) #Landslides and related hazards #earthquake and tectonic studies
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.1302.3021
openalex publication_date 2013/02/13 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
The increasing rate in earth quakes in the Netherlands is attributed to the\nenhanced depletion of Groningen natural gas, currently at a rate of 50 billion\nm3 per year. We performed a model-independent analysis of the earth quake event\ncounts in KNMI data. We find an exponential growth since 2001 with a standard\ndeviation of 0.37% and a doubling time of 6.2 years, giving rise to one event\nper day in 2025. A trend in the magnitude of the quakes is indiscernible. There\nis no apparent sensisitivity to NAM pruduction of natural gas, which increased\nlinearly with a standard deviation of 9.4% over the last decade. We identify\nthe earth quakes with an avalanche triggered by a pressure drop, currently 50%\naway from the equilibrium pressure at the depth of 3 km. Re-establishing\npressure equilibrium will proceed with an anticipated drop in soil surface up\nto a few meters.\n