Lecture on the Peel Ridge Fault

IVN Laarbeek is holding a lecture on “The Peelrand Fault” in the De Bimd building. 

In early May of this year, a small earthquake was measured near Aarle-Rixtel. It measured 1.8 on the Richter scale. However, the chance that residents of Aarle-Rixtel felt this earthquake is not very high. The earthquake is thought to be related to the location of the Peelrand Fault. The Peelrand Fault is a geological fault that owes its name to the Peel region. In the Netherlands, the fault runs roughly from Roermond via the Peel to Oss and separates the higher Peelhorst from the slowly sinking Roerdalslenk, where Aarle-Rixtel is also located. More severe earthquakes also occur along the fault, such as near Uden in 1932 and near Roermond in 1992. But where exactly does the Peelrand fault line run and what effect does it have on the surrounding landscape? Can you actually see it or is the fault line hidden underground? And what about earthquakes around this fault line? Answers to these and other questions will be provided during the lecture by Dick van der Star and Theo van de Mortel. Theo van de Mortel is a social geographer, former geography teacher and co-author of the book “Breuken in het land van Peel en Maas” (Faults in the land of Peel and Maas). Dick van der Star is the contact person for the Peelrand fault for the Ossenbeemd Nature and Environment Centre in Deurne and host of the Peelhorst and Maas Valley Landscape Geopark.