A new magnitude 3.4 earthquake, according to the National Seismic Monitoring Network (Rénass), rocked the Strasbourg metropolitan area this Friday shortly after 7:30 p.m., a few weeks after the shutdown of a geothermal power plant project that triggered activity abnormal seismic in the region in recent months.
Read also: After two earthquakes north of Strasbourg, geothermal energy in question
The earth shook at 7:33 p.m. precisely and the epicenter of the earthquake was again located north of Strasbourg, in the town of La Wantzenau.
Two softer aftershocks, magnitude 1.9 and 2.2 were felt shortly after.
An earthquake of magnitude 2.1 had already been felt on Tuesday, January 19 around 11:15 p.m. in the same area.
Induced tremors
All these “
induced
”
shocks
, that is to say due to human activity, occurred a few kilometers from a site hosting a geothermal power plant project led by the Fonroche company north of Strasbourg, on the communes of Vendenheim and Reichstett, and for which the Bas-Rhin prefecture announced the final shutdown on December 7, after several other induced earthquakes of varying intensity (including one of magnitude 3.5 at the beginning of December) which have occurred in recent months.
“
We are definitely not done yet with the consequences of deep geothermal energy.
Much too deep and invasive
”, wrote on Twitter the opposition municipal councilor of Strasbourg Alain Fontanel (LREM).
Despite the interesting potential of geothermal energy as green energy, the Eurometropolis of Strasbourg, in the hands of environmentalists, had also campaigned for the stopping of the Reichstett-Vendenheim geothermal power plant project, in view of the seismic activity caused.
As part of 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 at very high pressure.
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 to gradually reduce the flow of the injected water.
The company had warned that the operation, scheduled to last several weeks, could cause further shocks.
Several dozen residents of municipalities north of Strasbourg have observed minor damage to their homes as a result of these earthquakes in recent months and have made claims for compensation to Fonroche.
In the wake of the shutdown of this plant, the three other geothermal projects developed in the Strasbourg metropolitan area were also suspended pending extensive feasibility studies on potential risks.