The Reichstett-Vendenheim geothermal power station on November 18, 2020. -
G. Varela / 20 Minutes
New shaking.
An earthquake, of magnitude 2.5 according to the National Seismic Monitoring Network (Rénass), shook the Strasbourg region this Friday morning, where a geothermal power plant project was definitively stopped in early December.
These tremors, the latest in a long series, occurred at 9:58 a.m., according to Rénass.
The epicenter was located 5 km deep, about ten kilometers north of Strasbourg, near the town of La Wantzenau, according to the Network, which classified this earthquake as "induced", that is to say say caused by human activity.
A series of earthquakes in three weeks
This earthquake occurred a few kilometers from a site hosting a geothermal power plant project led by the Fonroche company north of Strasbourg, in the communes of Vendenheim and Reichstett and of which the Bas-Rhin prefecture announced the December 7 the final shutdown, after several other more or less intense “induced” earthquakes (including one of magnitude 3.5) which have occurred in recent months.
On this site, two boreholes were drilled at a depth of 5 kilometers, 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.
In the process, the three geothermal projects developed in the Strasbourg metropolitan area were also suspended.
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