The New York Times
Earthquakes Are Jolting The Netherlands. Gas Drilling Is To Blame.
A long crack runs across the ceiling of Hippolystus church in Middelstum, NL, 2019. The 15th century building suffered significant damage to its original ceiling due to earthquakes related to the extraction of natural gas in the area.
Nienke Pastoor inspects a large crack in the roof and exterior wall of the family’s 160-cow shed, Middelstum, NL, 2019. Due to earthquake damage, the shed, which houses up to half the family's herd of 300 dairy cows, will be torn down and rebuilt in sections, starting with the roof.
Van Eijkern home, Appingedam, NL, 2019. The van Eijkern home, built in 1920, began to sag in 2009. In 2015, the situation got so bad that wooden beams were attached to the back of the building to keep it from collapsing. More were added to the front of the house in 2019. The family tied a knot into the Groninger flag in order to show their anger with the government and NAM, the Shell-Exxon joint venture that extracts natural gas in the area.
Farmer Jaap Pastoor and his parents, retired farmers Klaas and Truus, inspect earthquake related damage to their shed Middelstum, NL, 2019. Klaas and Truus first noticed cracks in the walls of their house, built in 1901, in 2012. Although not as badly damaged as some of the buildings owned by their son Jaap, the couple is worried about the future of their home.
A large crack runs down an exterior wall of the Pastoor family cow shed, Middelstum, NL, 2019.
Nicole van Eijkern, walks through her backyard, Appingedam, NL, 2019. The wooden beams, attached to the back of her house, were installed in 2015 to keep the from collapsing. More were added to the front in 2019 as the structure, built in 1920, continued to sag.
written by Stanley Reed
GRONINGEN, the Netherlands — Driving through fields of low-lying Dutch farmland you pass an occasional odd cluster of silvery pipes and tanks. They are the only visible sign that deep below this northeast corner of the Netherlands is one of the world’s largest natural gas fields.
Unless you stop by one of the nearby farmhouses weakened by earthquakes linked to gas extraction. At her handsome home in the village of Appingedam, Nicole van Eijkern pointed to sagging external walls and cracked ceilings. Heavy beams buttress her house, inside and out, and it is scheduled to be torn down.
“In 10 years it went from a good house to a ruin,” she said.