An underground quake with a magnitude of 2.6 was felt on Sunday evening in the Katowice and surrounding areas. Located in the area of the Staszic mine in Katowice, it did not cause any underground effects – according to information from representatives of the Polish Mining Group (PGG).
The shock occurred on Sunday after 9 p.m. PGG spokesman Tomasz Głogowski informed the Polish Press Agency that it had an energy of 5 times 10 to the power of 6 Jul, which translates into a magnitude of 2.58. -No one was hurt downstairs. There are no effects of this shock down below. The mine is operating normally. There were no reports from the surface, but the shock was felt very strongly in Katowice and the surrounding area, noted Głogowski.
The majority of tremors, even if felt on the surface, do not cause any negative effects. Those that cause damage to infrastructure underground or on the surface are called rock bursts.
Staszic MineShutterstock
In the years 2018-22, 19 rock bursts related to rock mass tremors occurred in Polish underground mining. As a result of these events, there were 23 fatal accidents, 3 serious accidents and 98 accidents resulting in temporary inability to work.
Of these, 12 rock bursts were recorded in hard coal mines during this period, resulting in 22 fatal accidents, 2 serious accidents and 45 resulting in temporary inability to work.
The number of rock bursts in 2022 was at a similar level as in previous years, but as a result of the rock bursts that occurred in 2022, 10 people suffered fatal accidents and 5 suffered bodily injuries resulting in temporary inability to work – which is an increase in relation to previous years.
Rock bursts in Upper Silesia
In Upper Silesia, most mining tremors are recorded in the area along the Kłodnik Fault (from Katowice towards Zabrze to Knurów), in the area of the Bytom Basin (Bytom area), in the area of the Rybnik mines (area of Wodzisław Śląski, Rydułty) and in the area of the Vistula mines.
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The most common cause of tremors is the relaxation of the rock mass as a result of coal mining, which results in the release of energy accumulated in the rock mass. Due to different geological conditions, some tremors are felt strongly at the surface, others less strongly. Most do not pose a direct threat to miners and residents of mining areas.
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