A slight earthquake occurred on Monday afternoon at 12:07 p.m. in the Syker city area. According to the Lower Saxony Seismological Service at the State Office for Mining, Energy and Geology (LBEG), it had a local magnitude of 3.6. This made it stronger than the earthquake in November 2019 in Völkersen (Verden district), in which a local magnitude of 3.2 was measured, but weaker than the earthquake in Syke in July 2005, in which a local magnitude of 3.8 was measured. “This was one of the strongest earthquakes in Lower Saxony in recent years,” says the LBEG. The effects were likely to have been felt within a radius of around 30 kilometers, according to the LBEG press release. In the editorial office of the WESER-KURIER in Syke at Syker Hauptstrasse 10, the desks also shook for about two to three seconds and a loud, muffled noise could be heard.
Although the region is not a particularly earthquake-prone area, minor earthquakes like this have occurred repeatedly in recent years. Natural gas production in the region cannot be ruled out as the cause, as both Joachim Saul, doctor of geophysics at the Georesearch Center in Potsdam, and Klaus Torp, press spokesman for the oil company Exxonmobil, confirmed upon request. In northern Lower Saxony, natural gas is extracted from sediment layers at a depth of around three to six kilometers. If the natural gas is removed from these layers, cavities are created, which are usually slowly closed again by the pressure of the rock above. Sometimes this happens suddenly, for example when layers of rock temporarily get stuck together and then loosen. This change in tension at a great depth then causes an earthquake. For the LBEG, too, the current earthquake is “very likely” related to natural gas production.
This is also supported by the fact that, according to LBEG, the epicenter was about three kilometers south of Syke. Exxonmobil’s Klosterseelte-Kirchseelte-Ortholz natural gas field is located there, says Torp. Although no natural gas is currently being produced from this field, “according to current knowledge, due to the geographical proximity, a connection with natural gas production that took place in the past cannot be ruled out,” continued the Exxonmobil press spokesman. He points out that those affected can contact him by email at pressestelle.hannover@exxonmobil.com if they have any questions.
While minor property damage has been reported so far, no people have been injured, according to LBEG. Residents who felt the current event can report their observations using a questionnaire on the LBEG website at www.
nibis.lbeg.de/makroseismik. The information provided there is used to independently determine the epicenter and to estimate the impact of the event.
GVG Fiber, which is responsible for expanding the fiber optic network in the region, said that the earthquake had no impact on the fiber optic network in the Diepholz district. The company’s Networking Operation Center (NOC) has not yet registered any abnormalities.
+++++ The message was updated at 5:30 p.m. +++++
Secure now: We’ll give you 1 month of WK+ for free!
To home page