Week 3: Belgium's Earthquakes

Earthquakes are a daily occurrence in Belgium. The country experiences small to medium earthquakes (less than 2.5 magnitude) on a regular basis. It is located on the Eurasian Plate which shares both convergent and divergent plate boundaries with surrounding tectonic plates. The shifting of the plates creates moderate seismic activity. Most of the earthquakes are so small they are not felt on the surface. However, earthquakes that measure between 2.5 and 3.9 have been recorded in the last 15 years and earthquakes measuring over 4.0 magnitude have also been recorded in the last 100 years. The largest recorded earthquake that affected the general population was of 5.0 magnitude that happened on June 11, 1938.

The National Crisis Center of Belgium is the government agency in charge of emergency preparation plans for an unlikely but still possible large earthquake above 6.0 magnitude. In 2018, the agency conducted a large-scale risk assessment for 2018-2023 and the result of the earthquake analysis was low impact with a likely probability. The biggest risk of devastation and injury is building collapse. Belgium follows the guidelines of the 2011 European standard protocol: Eurocode 8. It is a set of rules and codes for all European countries to follow to make sure the buildings can withstand large earthquakes. Seismic activity is consistently measured and recorded by The Royal Observatory of Belgium. If an earthquake that will affect the general population is detected, they contact the necessary authorities such as the National Crisis Center who then puts the established emergency plan into action.

 

References:

https://www.seismologie.be/en

https://crisiscenter.be/en/risks-belgium/natural-risks/earthquake

https://earthquaketrack.com/p/belgium/recent