Earthquake in the Netherlands

A rare earthquake rattled parts of the Netherlands shortly after 9 p.m. today.

“Everything here was shaking for about 5 to 6 seconds”, said a resident from Duiven (Gelderland).

The earthquake was also felt in northern Limburg, Maastricht, Arnhem and Hilversum. A resident from Hilversum reported that his greenhouse has been damaged by the shaking.

The KNMI reported that a magnitude 4.5 earthquake hit at 21:04 p.m. and the epicenter was about 40 km southeast of Nijmegen close to Xanten, Germany.

Many people were frightened by the earthquake. In Venlo, people panicked and ran into the streets.

The emergency line is flooding with calls right now,” Dutch police reported “People want to know what happened.

The earthquake took place at a depth of 7 km, which according to seismologists at KNMI is not deep. It is still unclear what caused the earthquake, but it seems to be a natural cause.

“The quake did not occur within the known fault lines,” said a spokeswoman.

The Netherlands never had earthquakes with devastating consequences, according to the KNMI. This is because the Netherlands is not at the edge of a tectonic plate. However a quake with a magnitude of 5.8 on the Richter scale on April 13, 1992 in Roermond caused considerable damage.

Did you feel anything? let us know in the comments.