1992 Roermond earthquake

The earthquake of Roermond on 13 April 1992 shook at 3:20 clock (CEST ), the Netherlands and Germany. The quake had a moment magnitude of 5.3 and was the strongest earthquake in the region since the Düren earthquake of 1756th The epicenter was 4 km southwest of Roermond, the hearth of the quake was located at 18 km depth. It took 15 seconds to about 12 seconds of it with noticeable strength.

In North Rhine- Westphalia alone 30 people were injured, mostly by falling roof tiles; has resulted in significant damage to buildings, eg also at the Cologne Cathedral. Along the Meuse and the Roer created long columns and landslides, and in some places were made ​​of sand fountains.

The earthquake was felt in Berlin, Milan and London. The most damage on the German side originated in the vicinity of the town Heinberg. In the Netherlands, the area of ​​damage for several miles above Roermond reached out to the northwest. Overall, the originated in Germany damage to more than 150 million DM was estimated, in the Netherlands, a loss of 170 million guilders was specified.

Causes

The earthquake occurred in the north- west of the Lower Rhine Basin, which continues to the northwest in the Central Graben of the Netherlands. The geology of the Lower Rhine Basin is determined by a still ongoing expansion of the earth's crust, so the crust is broken along northwest-southeast trending faults in individual fault blocks. The movements took place mainly on large fault systems, the largest of which Feldbiss Fault, the Rurrand - Peelrand jump, the Erft - jump and the jump are Viersener. The earthquake of Roermond went back to a movement of the Peelrand -hop, the northeastern boundary of the Rurgrabens, plummeted to the West plaice by about half a meter.

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