Shell and Exxon's €5bn problem: gas drilling that sets off earthquakes and wrecks homes

Groningen has been one of Europe's richest gas fields for 30 years, and thousands of people say their homes have been damaged by the tremors that drilling sets off. Now a class action may finally bring them compensation - and force a rethink of European energy security

Five years ago, Annemarie Heite and her husband, Albert, bought their dream home; a traditional 19th-century farmhouse in Groningen province in the northern Netherlands. The couple planned to raise their two young daughters in this charming corner of the Dutch countryside. "Then, the living was still easy, and affordable," Annemarie says, her tone bittersweet and nostalgic. Today, their house is scheduled for demolition.

Hundreds of earthquakes have wrecked the foundations of the Heites' home and made it unsafe to live in. Annemarie's biggest fear is the safety of her daughters. She points to a room. "This is where my children sleep," she says, "and everyday I'm just picking up pieces of bricks and stuff from the ceiling."