The effect of earthquakes on the housing market and the quality of life in the province of Groningen, the Netherlands.

Abstract

The Netherlands is not known for the occurrence of earthquakes. This is, however, a hot topic in the province of Groningen. Because of gas extraction, this area suffered from more than 1000 earthquakes. Most of them are not very intensive, but also bigger earthquakes of between 2 and 3 on the scale of Richter have been measured. In the last few years, thousands of houses are damaged, house prices have dropped, and the liveability is at stake. This paper pays attention to the effects of these earthquakes on the functioning of the housing market and the quality of life in the region. An extensive survey was conducted, focus groups were organized, housing market statistics were analyzed, and several econometric models were evaluated to give an answer to the question in which way the earthquakes influence the local housing market and the liveability.