Earthquake in Groningen overnight; Code Yellow storm warning

An earthquake with a magnitude of 2.5 hit the Groningen town of Zijldijk early Saturday morning. There were several reports on social media of the earthquake being felt around the northeastern portion of the the province, with the possibility that the seismic incident could be felt 12 kilometers away from the epicenter, weather agency KNMI said.

"I heard rumblings, followed by a violent tremor. The glasses in the closet were shaking and the dog and cats were flying through the house," a Zandeweer resident told RTV Noord.

The earthquake took place three kilometers below the surface just before 4:15 a.m. local time, according to data from the KNMI. There were no known injury reports in the immediate aftermath.

It was not caused by a tectonic shift, but was likely an incident caused by human activity, the KNMI said. The province has been plagued by man-made earthquakes for years due to the extraction of natural gas in the region.

Weather warning

The earthquake took place on a day when most of the country woke up to a Code Yellow warning from the meteorological agency. The warning, for thunderstorms, hail, and gusty winds, covered most of the Netherlands from anywhere between 6 a.m. and noon. 

Wind gusts were expected to reach 60 km/h. The thunderstorms were predicted to begin in the central and southwestern portion of the country and proceed east.

The storms were predicted to break up during the afternoon, with temperatures topping out at 13 degrees in the west and 15 degrees in the southeast. A warmer, dryer day was expected on Sunday.