Major efforts are being undertaken to quantify seismic hazard and risk due to production-induced earthquakes in the Groningen gas field as the
basis for rational decision-making about mitigation measures. An essential element is a model to estimate surface ground motions expected at any
location for each earthquake originating within the gas reservoir. Taking advantage of the excellent geological and geophysical characterisation
of the
field and a growing database of ground-motion recordings, models have been developed for predicting response spectral accelerations, peak ground
velocity and ground-motion durations for a wide range of magnitudes. The models reflect the unique source and travel path characteristics of the
Groningen earthquakes, and account for the inevitable uncertainty in extrapolating from the small observed magnitudes to potential larger events.
The predictions of ground-motion amplitudes include the effects of nonlinear site response of the relatively soft near-surface deposits throughou
t
the field.