Germany Earthquakes

 

The map below shows the seismicity in the country of Germany. The red areas of the map are the areas with the most seismic activity meaning higher risk of earthquakes. Earthquakes that cause major damage or felt by humans are rare in Germany, but most of the earthquakes that are noticed are caused by zones of crustal weakness. The three regions in Germany with the most crustal weakness are The River Rhine area, the Swabian Alb, and Eastern Thuringia. Although major earthquakes are uncommon minor tremors in Germany are caused by construction work. Wells, oil and gas production, mining, or explosions are all processes that can cause minor quakes. The largest earthquake ever recorded in Germany was during 1989, a 5.7 in the city of Vacha and it was felt across Germany. 


For safety and protection against earthquakes Germany has implemented regulations for major structures. For example nuclear power plants are built to withstand the strongest earthquake within 200 kilometers of a nuclear site. Also all government buildings have been built with earthquake safety in mind. Particularly in southern German large commercial building and other at risk structures have been fitted with earthquakes safety equipment. Germany also has safety regulations for all homes built. Homes built in Germany are built earthquake safe but recent reports say most homes will not withstand anything much larger than the minor tremors they are used to


References: 
https://www.gfz-potsdam.de/en/section/seismic-hazard-and-risk-dynamics/topics/where-in-germany-does-the-earth-quake/seismicity-in-germany-in-global-context 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_earthquakes_in_Germany

https://www.base.bund.de/EN/ns/safety/measures/earthquakes/earthquakes_node.html

Comments

  1. Jacob’s Blog El SalvadorSeptember 9, 2022 at 11:43 AM

    Hey Nolan I found it really interesting that there are minor tremors caused by construction work , wells ,oil and gas production . You also mention mining and explosives are all processes that can cause minor quakes I found this really cool and interesting I can't wait to read more about Germany!

    ReplyDelete

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