Earthquake fear ends Dutch gas boom

ZEERIJP, Netherlands - The Dutch are proud of the way they have created a country by fighting back the ocean - but when they started making their own earthquakes, it proved a step too far.

The tiny village of Zeerijp in the northern Netherlands looks ordinary on the surface, yet closer inspection reveals cracks in homes, schools and historic buildings.

A series of quakes caused by extractions at Europe's biggest gas field in Groningen province culminated in a magnitude 3.4 tremor in January, the biggest for six years.