List of the pending macroseismic inquiries
AACHEN (DE) 03 Jan 2025 07:07 U.T. (03 Jan 2025 08:07 Belgian time)
Not listed Event

If the earthquake you have experienced is not on the list hereinabove, please make sure you specify the correct date and time of this tremor when filling in the following questionnaire:




An earthquake is characterized by its hypocentre and its magnitude. The hypocentre is the point within the Earth where faulting is initiated; the magnitude depends on the dimensions of the fault zone that is displaced in the earthquake. In addition, an earthquake may also be described by its intensity, which is a measure of the effects the earthquake has caused on the inhabitants of the affected area, and of the possible damage. Therefore, it is very useful to know the limits of the area where the earthquake has been perceived, and more important, of the zone where shaking was most intense. This information is important for civil engineering and for town and country planning.

At the moment, it is not possible to equip the entire territory with sufficient seismometres and accelerometres to precisely determine soil movements at a 'local' scale. For that reason, we have to take into account the effects of shaking on people and objects, as well as the damage to buildings. These are the main criteria to construct macroseismic maps. We could thus put that in places lacking instruments, the people themselves and their constructions are serving as measuring devices!

Although this method was conceived before the development of seismic instruments, evaluation of earthquake intensity remains a valuable tool to describe the complexity of soil movements and the nature of the damage caused. Since 1932 the Royal Observatory of Belgium has been carrying out an inquiry each time an earthquake was felt in Belgium, in order to establish a macroseismic map illustrating the effects of the earthquake over the Belgian territory. So far, these inquiries were mainly based on an official questionnaire that was distributed to the municipal authorities in the region where the earthquake was perceived. Since 2002, we are also conducting this inquiry on our internet site.

List of the closed macrosismics inquiries