1992 Roermond earthquake

Tectonic setting

The city of Roermond lies above the Roer Graben, which forms the southeastern part of the Lower Rhine Graben (or Lower Rhine Embayment). These structures form part of the European Cenozoic Rift System, which formed within the foreland of the Alpine orogeny. The Roer graben formed during the Paleogene and is currently active as shown by the thickening of Quaternary sedimentary rocks into the basin. The graben is bounded by NW-SE trending normal fault systems, with the largest fault being the southwest-dipping Peel Boundary Fault, which displaces the base of the Quaternary sequence by about 175 m. All the major faults show evidence of neotectonics.

Location

The earthquake's focal mechanism showed almost pure normal faulting on a plane dipping southwest at 68°, identified as the Peel Boundary Fault. The epicentre of the earthquake lay kilometers away from the south of Roermond.

Intensity

The earthquake was recorded as 5.8 on the Richter scale (5.3 on the moment magnitude scale) and a maximum intensity of VIII (Severe) on the Mercalli intensity scale.

An intensity of VIII means considerable damage to poorly built structures and heavy furniture is overturned. The earthquake was not evenly spread as some areas were hit harder than others. This earthquake could be felt as far away as the Czech Republic, Switzerland, France and England.

Damage and casualties

In the regions between Roermond, Maaseik (Belgium), and Heinsberg (Germany), buildings, especially old buildings, and cars were destroyed. Two churches in Roermond, the Munsterkerk and Minderbroederskerk, were heavily damaged. The economic cost of the earthquake was estimated to be around 275 million guilders (around 125 million euros), of which 170 million guilders (around 77 million euros) of damage in the Netherlands. A 79-year-old woman died of a heart attack in Bonn.

Aftershocks

The earthquake was followed by more than 200 aftershocks.

References

References

1. "An earthquake catalogue for central, northern and northwestern Europe based on Mw magnitudes / Annex. STR 03/02". GeoForschungsZentrum Potsdam.
2. "M 5.4 – 1 km W of Kessenich, Belgium". USGS-ANSS.
3. (14 April 1992). "Rare European Quake Leaves 1 Dead, 46 Hurt". The New York Times.
4. Braunmiller J., Dahm T. & Bonjer K-P.. (1994). "Source mechanism of the 1992 Roermond earthquake from surface- wave inversion of regional data". Geophysical Journal International.
5. Houtgast R.F. & van Balen R.T.. (2000). "Neotectonics of the Roer Valley Rift System, the Netherlands". Global and Planetary Change.
6. Oncescu M-C., Camelbeek T. & Martin H.. (1994). "Source parameters for the Roermond aftershocks of 1992 April 13- May 2 and site spectra for P and S waves at the Belgian seismic network". Geophysical Journal International.
7. (31 May 2010). "Aardbeving bij Roermond 13 april 1992". [[Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute]].
8. "The Modified Mercalli Scale of Earthquake Intensity". [[University of Nevada, Reno.
9. {{in lang. nl [http://www.roermond.nl/4/Cultuur-Monumenten/Munsterkerk.html Munsterkerk], Municipality of Roermond. Retrieved on 25 February 2015.
10. {{in lang. nl [http://www.roermond.nl/4/Cultuur-Monumenten/Minderbroederskerk.html Minderbroederskerk] {{Webarchive. link. (25 February 2015 , Municipality of Roermond. Retrieved on 25 February 2015.)
11. (1994). "The 1992 Roermond earthquake, the Netherlands, and its aftershocks". Geologie en Mijnbouw.