It is the second of the year.
As in last January, a new "induced" earthquake of magnitude 2.8, according to the National Seismic Monitoring Network (Rénass), occurred during the night from Friday to Saturday near Strasbourg, a few months after the shutdown of '' a geothermal power plant project causing abnormal seismic activity in the area.
The quake, whose epicenter was once again located in the area of the municipality of La Wantzenau, north of Strasbourg, occurred at 2:49 a.m., according to Rénass.
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Earthquakes near Strasbourg: geothermal energy worries
It is "induced", according to this same source, which means that its origin is human.
This sector is located very close to a site that hosted a geothermal power plant project led by the Fonroche company, north of Strasbourg, in the communes of Vendenheim and Reichstett.
The prefecture of Bas-Rhin announced on December 7 that this project was definitively stopped, after several other more or less intense “induced” earthquakes (including one of magnitude 3.5 in early December).
Minor damage to some houses
According to its geothermal project, Fonroche had drilled two boreholes 5 kilometers deep, in order to draw hot water from the subsoil to exploit its energy potential on the surface before reinjecting it underground.
An electricity production plant had also been built.
This project, for which 100 million euros had been invested, was stopped at the beginning of December and Fonroche had gradually reduced the flow of the injected water.
The company had warned that the operation, which lasted several weeks, could cause further tremors.
Several dozen residents of municipalities north of Strasbourg have observed minor damage to their homes as a result of these earthquakes in recent months.
Following the termination of this project, the three geothermal projects developed in the Strasbourg metropolitan area were also suspended.
