A long crack runs across the ceiling of Hippolystus church in Middelstum, NL, 2019.
The 15th century building suffered significant damage to its original ceiling due to earthquakes related to the extraction of natural gas in the area.
Farmer Jaap Pastoor and his son, Daniel, amongst their cows on the family farm, Middelstum, NL, 2019.
One of the family’s cow sheds, which houses half of the family’s 300-strong dairy herd, will be torn down and rebuilt after it was damaged due to earthquakes related to the extraction of natural gas in the area.
Jeanette Ubels looks over a hedge into a ditch which runs along part of her property, Westeremden, NL, 2019.
Jeanette first began to notice damage after a particularly strong earthquake in 2006.
Perry walks along a fence in his garden, Westeremden, NL, 2019.
He has lived here since 2001. Built in the late 19th century, the building was first damaged by an earthquake in 2006.
Van Eijkern home, Appingedam, NL, 2019.
The van Eijkern home, built in 1920, began to sag in 2009. In 2015, the situation got so bad that wooden beams were attached to the back of the building to keep it from collapsing. More were added to the front of the house in 2019. The family tied a knot into the Groninger flag in order to show their anger with the government and NAM, the Shell-Exxon joint venture that extracts natural gas in the area.
A large crack runs down an exterior wall of the Pastoor family cow shed, Middelstum, NL, 2019.
Retired farmers Klaas and Truus Pastoor, read several newspaper articles about earthquakes related to the extraction of natural gas in the area, Middelstum, NL, 2019.
Jur Bekooy, building expert with Stichting Oude Groninger Kerken, Sint Sebastiaan church, Bierum, NL, 2019.
Built in the 13th century, the church suffered damage during the frequent earthquakes that have been linked to the extraction of natural gas in the area. The figures depicted on the ceiling, as well as the colourful patterns below, were painted in the 13th and 14th centuries.
Nienke Pastoor inspects a large crack in the roof and exterior wall of the family’s 160-cow shed, Middelstum, NL, 2019.
Due to earthquake damage, the shed, which houses up to half the family's herd of 300 dairy cows, will be torn down and rebuilt in sections, starting with the roof.
Farmer Jaap Pastoor and his parents, retired farmers Klaas and Truus, inspect earthquake related damage to their shed Middelstum, NL, 2019.
Klaas and Truus first noticed cracks in the walls of their house, built in 1901, in 2012. Although not as badly damaged as some of the buildings owned by their son Jaap, the couple is worried about the future of their home.
The village of Loppersum, as seen from the top of the Petrus and Paulus Church, NL, 2019.
Empty homes wait to be demolished and subsequently rebuilt by the National Coordinator Groningen, Loppersum, NL, 2019.
The National Coordinator Groningen (NCG) oversees the strengthening of buildings damaged by earthquakes in the province of Groningen. The NGC also provides new accommodation for those living in homes that are too damaged to live in and which must be torn down.
Judith Boeijink, a project manager at the National Coordinator Groningen (NCG), stands in a newly constructed housing estate, Loppersum, NL, 2019.
The National Coordinator Groningen oversees the strengthening of buildings damaged by earthquakes in the province of Groningen. The NGC also provides new accommodation for those living in homes that are too damaged to live in and which must be torn down.
Nicole van Eijkern’s husband, Henk de Lange, points to part of a system that monitors developing cracks in an exterior wall of the family home, Appingedam, NL, 2019.
Thomas Pastoor, sticks a finger into one of the many cracks in an exterior wall of the family’s home, Middelstum, NL, 2019.
Nicole van Eijkern, walks through her backyard, Appingedam, NL, 2019.
The wooden beams, attached to the back of her house, were installed in 2015 to keep the from collapsing. More were added to the front in 2019 as the structure, built in 1920, continued to sag.