Ministers have agreed in principle to make a further reduction in the volume of gas which can be extracted from underneath Groningen province, sources have told RTL news.

The situation in Groningen, which has been plagued by earthquakes caused by the land settling, was discussed at last Friday’s cabinet meeting, the broadcaster says.

A decision to further cut the gas supplies will cost the cabinet hundreds of millions of euros in lost revenue.

At the beginning of this year the cabinet agreed to a substantial cut in gas extraction over the next three years because of the earthquake risk. In Loppersum, the epicenter of many of the quakes, production is being reduced by 80%.

Thousands of homes have been damaged because of the quakes and pressure is mounting from home owners for the problem to be taken more seriously. They say house prices have been seriously affected.

News agency ANP said on Tuesday afternoon the Groningen provincial government is considering taking the government to court if it does not further cut back on gas extraction.