Sinkholes
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Sinkholes and cracks in the ground plague Cho Don, Vietnam; over 20 found in a month


Vietnam Net
Mon, 13 Feb 2017 14:29 UTC
Sink holes have been appearing over the past month in the Cho Don District of the northern mountain province of Bac Kan, generating anxiety among local residents.
© vnexpress.netSink holes have been appearing over the past month in the Cho Don District of the northern mountain province of Bac Kan, generating anxiety among local residents.
Sink holes have been appearing over the past month in the Cho Don District of the northern mountain province of Bac Kan, generating anxiety among local residents.

According to a preliminary survey by the district's People's Committee, more than 20 holes were found in the district, with each measuring 2-5 metres in width and 2-3 metres in depth.

Ban Tan Hamlet in Bang Lung Town has suffered the most. It has recorded more than 10 land subsidence spots. Some of the sinkholes appeared in springs, diverting all their water under ground. Over the past 10 days, some springs in the district have dried up, leading to water shortage for daily activities as well as irrigation.

Cracks have also appeared, with some measuring hundreds of metres in length.

Hoang Van Trieu, a farmer in Ban Tan Hamlet, said he was very anxious because big holes appeared in his fishing ponds while cracks were recorded in his garden, fields and the foundation of his house.
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Three tow trucks remove car from 20-ft sinkhole in Wilkesboro, North Carolina


Wilkes Journal-Patriot
Mon, 13 Feb 2017 11:20 UTC
Sinkhole in Wilkesboro, NC
© Jule Hubbard
Three tow trucks were used to keep an unoccupied Oldsmobile Alero from falling into a sinkhole in the Taco Bell parking lot near the intersection of U.S. 421 West and Winkler Mill Road in Wilkesboro about 8 a.m. Monday.

Asphalt had collapsed beneath both tires on the driver's side of the Oldsmobile and it was at risk of falling into the hole by 7 a.m. Monday.

Two conventional tow trucks, one at the front and the other at the rear of the Oldsmobile, were used to left up the car while a rollback tow truck was used to pull it in the direction of the passenger's side and onto the flatbed of the rollback.

A spokesman for Champion Towing in Wilkesboro, which had the rollback and one of the other tow trucks on the scene, said the Oldsmobile was removed from the hole without a scratch. The other tow truck was from Southeastern Cars & Parts in Ronda.

People on the scene Monday morning said the hole could easily be jumped across when it first appeared Sunday. It was at least 20 feet deep and the opening in the asphalt was at least 10 feet across by 8 a.m. Monday, but it was even wider immediately beneath the asphalt.
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Dig

Repairs underway to large sinkhole in East Oakland, California

Harry Harris
East Bay Times
Mon, 13 Feb 2017 14:37 UTC
East Oakland sinkhole
© Harry Harris/Bay Area News GroupA large sinkhole appeared Sunday on East 27th Street in East Oakland.
Workers from several agencies on Monday were continuing to repair a large sinkhole that appeared Sunday morning in East Oakland, damaging utility lines and partially swallowing a parked car, officials said.

The hole, about 25 feet wide, 25 feet long and 20 feet deep, opened about 9:21 a.m. in the 2600 block of East 27th Street in the lower Dimond district.

No one was in a parked 1991 BMW that was left partly submerged. It was later towed out.

On Monday, there were workers from the City of Oakland, PG&E and a private contractor at the scene. It was not known when the hole would be refilled and all repairs completed but crews were working around the clock to expedite the repairs, officials said..

Some underground sewer and storm drain lines were damaged as well as the roadway, officials said, but the extent of the damage or how many users were affected was not immediately available.
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Camera

Gaping sinkhole opens near Australian PM's home

RIley Stuart and Ursula Malone
ABC News
Wed, 08 Feb 2017 16:22 UTC
Sydney sinkhole
© ABC/Ursula Malone
A sinkhole has opened up near Malcolm Turnbull's Sydney harbourside mansion rupturing a gas pipe.

Fire and Rescue NSW were called to Wentworth Street, Point Piper, this morning after the footpath collapsed following the freak weather which had smashed Sydney the day before.

"There was a leak from a gas pipe," a Fire and Rescue NSW spokesman told The Australian. "It was due to the weather, now whether that is a cracked pipe or not I'm not sure at this stage.

"We were notified about it at 7.12am — we responded with a pumper, a station officer and three fire fighters. "Every pumper has air-monitoring equipment on board which can check for explosive limits and deprivation of oxygen and hydrogen sulphide.

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Bizarro Earth

Earth 'overdue' for magnetic pole reversal

Andrew Follett
The Daily Caller
Mon, 30 Jan 2017 10:49 UTC
Earth's Magnetic Field
© ShutterstockThe Earth's magnetic field, magnetic poles and geographic poles.
Earth's magnetic field may be about to reverse, which could have devastating consequences for humanity.

Scientists think that Earth is long "overdue" for a full magnetic reversal and have determined that the magnetic field's strength is already declining by 5 percent each century. This suggests that a fully reversal is highly probable within the next 2,000 years

Earth's magnetic field surrounds the planet and deflects charged particles from the sun away, protecting life from harmful radiation. There have been at least several hundred global magnetic reversals throughout Earth's history, during which the north and south magnetic poles swap. The most recent of these occurred 41,000 years ago.

During the reversal, the planet's magnetic field will weaken, allowing heightened levels of radiation on and above the Earth's surface.

The radiation spike would cause enormous problems for satellites, aviation, and the power grid. Such a reversal would be comparable to major geomagnetic storms from the sun.

The sun last produced such a storm that struck Earth during the summer of 1859, creating the largest geomagnetic storm on record. The storm was so powerful that it caused telegraph machines around the world to spark, shocking operators and setting papers ablaze. The event released the same amount of energy as 10 billion atomic bombs.

Researchers estimate that a similar event today would cause $600 billion to $2.6 trillion in damages to the U.S. alone. National Geographic found that a similar event today would destroy much of the internet, take down all satellite communications, and almost certainly knock out most of the global electrical grid. The Earth would only get about 20 hours of warning. Other estimates place the damage at roughly $40 billion a day.

A similar solar event occurred in 2012, but missed Earth.
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Attention

Massive sinkhole opens up Pennsylvania, two homes evacuated


philly.com
Wed, 25 Jan 2017 09:35 UTC
Pennsylvania sinkhole
© ABC13
Crews are at the site of a giant sinkhole that has opened up in Glenside, nearly swallowing a pickup truck in a driveway.No injuries are reported in the incident on Brooke Road, in Cheltenham Township, near the North Hills Country Club.

The residential street is closed between Argyle Road and Chelfield Road. Helicopter video shows the sinkhole is between two homes and includes the sidewalk and part of the street. Both homes have been evacuated.
Pennsylvania sinkhole
© ABC13
Donna Alston, a spokeswoman for AquaAmerica, said the collapse broke a 6-inch cast iron main, cutting water service to 30 to 40 homes in the area. The company estimates the service will be out all day while repairs are made.

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School bus narrowly escapes large sinkhole in Toronto, Canada

Joshua Freeman
CP24
Tue, 24 Jan 2017 11:06 UTC
Toronto sinkhole
© Cam Woolley/CP24
The ground nearly swallowed part of a school bus in the city's Harwood neighbourhood Monday after a massive sinkhole opened up in a local road.

The bus was travelling south on Symes Road, just past Hillborn Avenue, when the pavement beneath it suddenly collapsed.

The back of the bus slammed down into the opening sinkhole, but the vehicle luckily had enough momentum to keep from getting lodged. While it escaped the hole, reports from the scene indicate that the rear suspension was shattered and the drive axle was partially dislodged.

The bus eventually came to a stop a few metres away from the sinkhole, where rushing water could be seen gushing through the two-metre-deep opening. Toronto Water is at the scene to assess the situation and police have closed off a section of the road to keep drivers away.

There were no kids onboard at the time. No one was injured.
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Bizarro Earth

Massive fissure discovered in Arizona desert

Anne Stegen
12 News NBC
Tue, 24 Jan 2017 19:23 UTC
Earth fissure
© AZGS/Anne StegenA two-mile-long earth fissure was discovered in southern Pinal County, the Arizona Geological Survey announced Monday.
Pinal County - A large crack in the desert landscape was just charted by the Arizona Geological Survey.

The AZGS announced the discovery Monday after exploring the earth fissure with drone video, which you can see in the video below.

This fissure formed between March 2013 and December 2014. This one is more than half a mile longer than other fissures in the area. The fissure may have grown because of the heavy rains in fall of 2014.

Fissures pose a threat to people off-roading and riding ATVs in the area. Roaming livestock can also fall in and get stuck. Standing near the edge of a fissure can be dangerous because it can suddenly cave in.

The fissure is about 25 miles south of Arizona City, just south of Aries Drive near Sunland Gin Road.
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House

Tennessee couple lose home to large sinkhole

Bill Mitchell
WDEF
Fri, 20 Jan 2017 18:13 UTC
East Brainerd, TN sinkhole
© Cecilia Lanzar
Most of us don't expect to suddenly lose access to our home and belongings because they fell into a sink hole.

But that's what happened to Cecilia Lanzar and her husband who live in East Brainerd last December.

They are now stuck in limbo as their insurance company and engineers figure out what to do next.

Cecilia Lanzar had been hearing "creeking" noises in her home for several weeks, but on December 1 st she never expected to see what was happening that morning.

CECILIA LANZAR, HOMEOWNER "So, I opened the blinds and the deck was tilting." A big sinkhole had opened up almost overnight. She knew that water had been flowing across her lawn from a broken water pump that belongs to Amberleigh Apartments on the hill above her home. And, according to city inspectors it had weakened her lawn .
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Sinkhole threatens to swallow car in Reading, Pennsylvania

Amanda VanAllen
WFMZ 69 News
Wed, 18 Jan 2017 18:08 UTC
Sinkhole in Reading, PA
© WFMZ
A sinkhole opened and a six-inch water main broke Wednesday on Fairmont Avenue, near Bruckman Avenue, in the Reading's Northmont neighborhood.

The hole, estimated to have an opening of about 18 feet long, threatened to swallow a car that was parked on Fairmont, adjacent to the Quadrant corporate office.

"Another employee came flying in the office like, "Oh my God! Your car is almost in the sinkhole," and I was like, 'What? You've gotta be kidding me,'" said Elanie Diana, the owner of the almost-doomed car.

But it was no joke. When Diana got outside, she saw her car holding on by a thread, teetering over the sinkhole.

"Oh my God. It's almost paid for, and now it's gonna end up in a hole," she said.

Soon, a tow truck driver was able to get it out. Diana started her car, and was on her to find a safer place to park.

"It's a major sinkhole, a major water main break here on a 6-inch line," said Ralph Johnson of Reading Public Works.
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