Some of the worst sinkhole disasters have happened in China, Russia, Guatemala, and the United States. They happen all over the world and can have terrifying consequences if they occur within inhabited areas. Sometimes they keep growing for years after first opening up. Rome Sinkhole Reveals Extraordinary Archaeological FindĪn aerial view of Berezniki, Russia, in the aftermath of a mining disaster that caused a sinkhole and flooding ( andrewgiba / Adobe Stock)Īlthough they form over years, sinkholes often open up quite suddenly, pulling humans, cars, homes and whole streets down into their depths.A Lost Primeval World Has Been Found in a Giant South China Sinkhole!. However, human mining activity has also been known to cause these pits and they are in fact a pretty regular occurrence near old and active mines where large amounts of rock and ore have been extracted. These can collapse quite dramatically, despite the surface appearing stable. Sinkholes occur naturally in areas of poor external drainage where groundwater gathers and dissolves the rock, causing underground caverns or spaces. That Sudden Sinking Feeling: Natural Occurrence or Manmade Disaster? The startling phenomenon has been described variously by different news agencies as a sinkhole “large enough to swallow France’s Arc de Triomphe” ( New York Post ), “wide enough to swallow the White House” ( Live Science ), “approximately as deep as the length of two soccer fields” ( Vice), and “deeper than the Space Needle in Seattle is tall” ( CNET). The cause of its occurrence is yet to be determined and is being investigated. It measured 82 feet (25 meters) in diameter and 650 feet (200 meters) in depth and now measures 160 feet across (50 meters). The gigantic cavity was first seen on July 30 in a rural area outside the town of Tierra Amarilla, 413 miles (665 kilometers) north of the capital, Santiago, where the Canadian company Lundin Mining operates the Alcaparrosa copper mine. An enormous sinkhole that appeared on a plot of mining land in Chile’s Atacama Desert region has continued to grow.
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