1992 Roermond earthquake
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| Date | 13 April 1992 (GMT+1) |
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| Magnitude | 5.8 Ml, 5.3 Mw |
| Depth | 18 km |
| Epicenter | 51°10′N 5°57′E / 51.16°N 5.95°ECoordinates: 51°10′N 5°57′E / 51.16°N 5.95°E |
| Type | Dip-slip |
| Areas affected | Netherlands, Germany and Belgium |
| Max. intensity | VII (Very strong) |
| Casualties | None |
The 1992 Roermond earthquake occurred on 13 April, around 3:20 AM (1:20 UTC) with a moment magnitude of 5.3 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of VII (Very strong). Striking on the Peel Boundary Fault, a normal fault near Roermond, it was the strongest recorded earthquake in the Netherlands and in Northwestern Europe, and caused substantial damage to older buildings in the Netherlands and adjacent countries of Belgium and Germany. A series of aftershocks followed.
The city of Roermond lies above the Roer Graben, which forms the southeastern part of the Lower Rhine Graben (or Lower Rhine Embayment). These structures form part of the European Cenozoic Rift System, which formed within the foreland of the Alpine orogeny. The Roer graben formed during the Paleogene and is currently active as shown by the thickening of Quaternary sedimentary rocks into the basin. The graben is bounded by NW-SE trending normal fault systems, with the largest fault being the southwest-dipping Peel Boundary Fault, which displaces the base of the Quaternary sequence by about 175 m. All the major faults show evidence of neotectonics.
The earthquake's focal mechanism showed almost pure normal faulting on a plane dipping southwest at 68°, identified as the Peel Boundary Fault. The epicentre of the earthquake lay kilometers away from the south of Roermond.
The earthquake was recorded as 5.8 on the Richter magnitude scale (5.3 on the moment magnitude scale) and a maximum intensity of VII (Very strong) on the Mercalli intensity scale.
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