But the Dutch government is placing Groningen’s most accessible gas further out of reach. It has ordered the company to sharply curtail production at five sites in the Loppersum area, which has been the epicenter of the quakes. Mr. Jacobs, the NAM project director, says those sites are in Groningen’s “sweet spot” — its most prolific zones for gas extraction.

The company and various government authorities have also agreed on a five-year, €1.2 billion package to repair and reinforce homes and other buildings, including more than 20 of the medieval churches in the region that have sustained substantial damage.

The government says the construction work will create 3,000 jobs in the region. Some of the money is also to be spent on bolstering the rural electrical and telecommunications grids and to help compensate homeowners who have had to sell at depressed prices because of earthquake-related problems.

The hope is to win over locals. The field has never been a big source of jobs, and the local governments have never received any special tax revenue before.

Groningen residents say NAM’s biggest challenge may be in repairing community relations.

“What a lot of people fear is that their whole surroundings will die,” said Daniella Blanken, secretary of the 2,000-member citizens group Groninger Bodem Beweging, or Groningen Earth Movement.

Ms. Blanken’s organization would like to see gas production at Groningen cut by about 40 percent, and wants independent monitoring of the company. “People don’t consider NAM a neighbor,” she said. “They consider it an intruder.”

Mr. Dost, the seismologist, said that lowering production in the epicenter will probably reduce the earthquake risk, but only time will tell. “We should see over the next one to two years,” he said.

It is a test that residents say Groningen cannot afford to fail. “If there is one casualty, everything is different here,” Ms. Blanken said. “One casualty is going to put the region on fire.”