The quakes occur because gas extraction lowers the pressure in a layer of porous sandstone about 3 kilometers (1.9 miles) below the Earth's surface. "(The January quake) makes crystal clear the deep impact of the downside of gas extraction on Groningen and Groningers. But the government can't just order NAM to turn off the gas extraction machinery that dots the flat Groningen landscape. Some 90 percent of Dutch homes use the gas and the government has long-term contracts to sell gas to neighboring countries. "They call our gas extraction 'the Dutch disease,'" said Jorien de Lege of Friends of the Earth.

Source: ABC News January 28, 2018 10:52 UTC