The Netherlands is poised to end production at the massive Groningen gas field in the north of the country on October 1, but keep the wells open for one more year in case of a "very severe" cold winter.
People living near the site, which opened in the early 1960s, have complained for more than 20 years of being terrorised by quakes directly attributed to drilling operations.
"We are very relieved this is now coming to an end," said Jan Wigboldus, president of an association representing locals.
"An enormous number of people in the province are suffering psychological problems due to the extraction of gas," he told AFP. "They have been plunged into such uncertainty. It's really sad."
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte announced in June that production at the plant would end, despite the uncertainties in global energy supply sparked by the war in Ukraine.
Rutte left open the possibility of extracting gas for one more year in "very exceptional situations", such as a particularly cold winter or a gas shortage.
The final 11 wells will be "permanently closed" by October 1. Already debris of old pipes litters the site from sections of the field already dismantled.
Locals have suffered severe damage to their homes and buildings from the slew of quakes, but have received only a trickle of compensation.
They have been caught in a bottleneck of bureaucratic bungling and red tape, said a report by a parliamentary commission of inquiry earlier this year.
- 'It's painful' -
Gerrie Schotman, who has lived for 17 years in an area regularly shaken by quakes, said she has no choice but to demolish her 19th century home due to the damage and cracks in the building.
"A house is more than just walls, it's also where your memories are housed. It's painful and I'm going through a grieving process," she told AFP.
The memories of the quakes are also still raw for the 50-year-old.
"I sometimes felt there was a train crashing into the house. Once, we were woken up by a huge bang, followed by strong tremors and terrible noises," she added.
The strongest earthquake was a 3.6 magnitude tremor, but seismologist Laslo Evers told AFP this was only part of the story.
"The earthquakes are shallow, at three kilometres depth. Natural earthquakes are often much deeper. So a lot of energy reaches the Earth's surface," said Evers, professor of seismo-acoustics at the Delft University of Technology.
Also contributing to the damage was the soft soil in the region, which provides little or no "buffer" between the quake and the surface, Evers explained.
Finally, unlike in naturally seismically active countries like Japan, home construction in the Netherlands is not designed to withstand earthquakes. Decades of earthquakes have also weakened structures over time, making damage more likely.
The quakes, which are caused by air pockets collapsing after the gas is pumped out, are not likely to disappear any time soon, warned Evers.
It's difficult to predict how long they will last, but the expert said locals should expect "several years" more quakes.
The pressure around the air pockets has built up over 30 years, so will not ease overnight.
"It takes time for the gas reservoir to re-adjust and become in equilibrium again with the surrounding surface," he said.
"When you need 30 years to build up the stress... then of course logically, you would not expect that when you stop (production) today, the quakes would immediately stop."
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