Sinkholes
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Car swallowed by large sinkhole in Hoboken, New Jersey

Hoboken sinkhole
© NBC
A water main burst in Hoboken on Monday, turning an intersection into a pond and creating a large sinkhole that swallowed a car.

A 12-inch pipe near First and Clinton streets burst at about 6 a.m., authorities said. Water from the main flooded one block and caused a sinkhole that which engulfed a parked car.

Utility workers spent most of the morning getting the car out of the sinkhole. Once the car was removed, they began trying to repair the broken main.

"I went to get breakfast and on the way back we couldn't see the car so for a little bit we thought they towed it away," said car owner Phil Snyder. " As we got closer we could see the rear end of the car sticking out of the ground."


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300 ft deep sinkhole opens up outside home in Cornwall, UK

Cornwall sinkhole
© ApexThe depth of the massive sinkhole was filmed by a camera attached to a drone
A massive sinkhole has opened up in Cornwall - only yards away from the back door of a house.

Footage captured by a drone shows the giant 300ft deep gaping hole outside the home in Scorrier, an area with a history of mine workings.

It appeared after a huge mineshaft collapsed next to the property.

Mark Thomas, who captured the video, wrote: 'A massive mineshaft opens up under a garage at a house in Scorrier near Redruth in Cornwall.

'This shaft is truly massive and is approximately 300ft to water and god knows how deep from there!'

Fortunately, the home it appeared under is unoccupied.

Stuart Dann, from Mining Eye, said that the discovery was totally unexpected.


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Giant sinkhole blocks traffic in Montreal, Quebec

Montreal sinkhole
© Emily Brass/CBCA sinkhole has appeared on Laval Avenue near Carré St-Louis.
Water to Plateau residents to be cut tonight as work begins between Pine Ave. and Carré St-Louis

Laval Street between Pine Avenue and Sherbrooke Street will be blocked to traffic until next week due to a large sinkhole that appeared this morning.

The Plateau—Mont-Royal borough blamed the major sinkhole on the north side of Laval Avenue and Carré St-Louis on a 125-year-old water main bursting.

Borough officials said it happened around 8 a.m. this morning and there is a smell of gas in the area. The sinkhole is estimated to be at least six metres by four metres. Residents said they aren't surprised by the pipe bursting.

"It seems to be so endemic of the entire city. It seems like work maybe wasn't done properly years and years
and years ago," Laval Street resident Terri Howard said.

"They do spend a lot of money on things like festivals. I think they need to put it in infrastructure. The city needs to go back to basics," another area resident, Louise Makovsky, said.

City of Montreal and Gaz Métro workers are at the scene. Repair work will begin Thursday evening, with water being cut off for a short time this evening between Pine Avenue and Carré St-Louis.


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Shocking video shows huge sinkhole in China swallow a bus in a matter of seconds

sinkhole swallows bus in China
A shocking video has emerged of a bus disappearing into a sinkhole in Guiyang, south-west China's Guizhou province.

The bus was pulling into a bus station in the town when it was suddenly swallowed by a massive sinkhole in a matter of seconds.

According to Chinese media, the driver and two passengers were trapped inside for around 40 minutes while rescue teams tried to free them.

In the footage, a man can be seen coming out of a taxi smoking a cigarette.

The bus pulls into a bus stop nearby him and the next minute the bus is tipped up and then disappears into a giant hole.

Passersby can be seen rushing to the scene.

And the man who witnessed the entire ordeal can be seen phoning for emergency services.

According to Chinese media, the two passengers and the driver were taken to hospital for treatment. and the road administration arrived on the scene for the cleanup operation.


Comment: For more information on this phenomenon see: Sinkholes: The groundbreaking truth


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Rare 420-metre deep sinkhole discovered in China

Photo taken on March 3 shows groundwater found at a huge doline in Donglan County, Hechi City of south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.
Photo taken on March 3 shows groundwater found at a huge doline in Donglan County, Hechi City of south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.
Scientists from China and France have discovered a rare huge sinkhole, habitat to many species in south China.

The 420-metre deep doline, or sink hole, was among several discovered by scientists during an eight-day expedition that began on February 26 in Donglan county of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous region.

Dolines found in Guangxi are normally around 250 metres deep, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

Many species live in these dolines, including bats and snakes. Scientists also found some as-yet unidentified vertebrates and plants.

Dolines are special geological landscape formations found in karst regions, formed by repeated cave-ins of underground caves. They are common in China, Mexico and Papua New Guinea.

Photo taken on March 3 shows scientists exploring a huge doline in Donglan County, Hechi City of south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.
Photo taken on March 3 shows scientists exploring a huge doline in Donglan County, Hechi City of south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.
Source: Xinhua

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Enormous sinkhole opens on Detroit's west side

Detroit sinkhole
© Jessica J. Trevino/Detroit Free PressAn excavator and workers are seen working on a sinkhole on the west side of Detroit on Tireman at Greenfield on Wednesday, March 3, 2016.
Detroit Police tell motorists to stay clear of giant opening on Tireman.

Detroit Police are advising motorists to stay clear of the eastbound lanes of Tireman on the city's west side because of a giant sinkhole.

The police department retweeted a photo from Fox 2 Detroit (WJBK) showing several officers standing near the sinkhole at the intersection with Greenfield. The officers appear to be dwarfed by the size of the opening in the pavement.

Bryan Peckinpaugh, spokesman for the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department, said a sewer pipe failed underneath the street, which apparently caused the sinkhole. Officials do not know what caused the sewer pipe to fail.

"We have a team en route that will place a camera down into the sewer line to identify the cause of the break in the sewer pipe. After they make that determination, we will have an estimated repair time," Peckinpaugh said in an e-mail. "No businesses and no homes are impacted. Only the street. We have no reports of sewer backups in that area."

Peckinpaugh was not sure what time the sinkhole opened up, but officials learned of it shortly after 1 p.m.

The weather this year has been relatively mild, but two winters ago when the term "polar vortex" entered the public consciousness, the department handled more than 2,000 water main breaks.


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Segments of Atoyac River in Mexico disappear overnight after giant crack opens

Atoyac river
Almost completely dried up…
The Atoyac River, which crosses eight municipalities in the central mountainous area of ​​eastern Mexican state of Veracruz, disappeared overnight after a giant crack opened up. Inhabitants of Rancho San Fermin reported hearing a bang and feeling the earth rumbled as the ground cracked down.

On Monday, the water had disappeared... And they found this giant 30 meters by 20 meters fissure in the ground.
Atoyac river bed
Before / After. Segments of the River Atoyac are completely dry.
The hole in the ground crosses the riverbed of the Atoyac River. It appeared about three kilometers from the source of the river, which supplies with water more than 10,000 families and sugar industries in the region.


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Another sinkhole opens along Pacifica, California's coastline

Beach Boulevard sinkhole
© KRON
The city of Pacifica is dealing with more problems along its coastline, possibly because of El Nino.

Yet another sinkhole has opened up along Beach Boulevard. A snapshot shows the depression in the sidewalk of the Beach Boulevard Promenade that was reported to the city's Department of Public Works on Saturday afternoon.

It was first thought to be 4 feet by 6 feet, but when crews opened it up, they found that the erosion underneath was much larger than that. It was 14 feet by 10 feet, and 8 feet deep, according to Van Ocampo from the public works department. The sinkhole is located right in front of the Pacifica Pier. The hole has now been filled in and patched over. This is the third sinkhole the city has had to deal with.

There were two more at Beach and Paloma that opened up within days of each other in February. And back in January, there was a breach of the seawall that had to be repaired.

And there has been other trouble too. Erosion of the cliffs caused the evacuation of an apartment building further north on Esplanade Avenue. What is behind it all is the strong waves being produced by this El Nino season, pounding the shoreline and, in the case of the sinkholes, eating away the soil underneath the promenade.


Those out enjoying the view on Wednesday said they are not sure what can be done about it. "When mother nature says she wants her land back, she's going to come and get it...," said Tony Martinez, who said he enjoys fishing on the pier.

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Another hole forms in beach at Inskip Point, Queensland, Australia

Sinkhole at Inskip Point
© Seven NewsA picture from the Seven News chopper of the sinkhole that has formed at Inskip Point
Another collapsing sandy hole has formed at Inskip Point at the northern end of rainbow beach.

According to Queensland Parks and Wildlife the activity started at the surface of the sand about 8am and ended at 10.15am.

The service is describing it as an erosion event better termed as a "near-shore landslide" than a sinkhole.

The erosion has not affected any campsites nor access to the barge to Fraser Island.

The Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service has erected traffic barriers and warning signs around the sites.

A statement on the parks and wildlife website said it was likely to be "another occurrence of the natural phenomenon which occurred in September 2015 at Inskip".

In that incident 300 people had to be evacuated after campsites came under threat, and some cars that were swallowed up by sinking sand are still underwater.


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Large sinkhole swallows pickup truck in Gilbert, Arizona

truck in sinkhole in Gilbert, Arizona
© KPHO/KTVKChristian Wolf said he was traveling around 45 mph when his truck went into the sinkhole.

Traveling in the Town of Gilbert this morning? You might want to avoid Greenfield Road.

A sinkhole has closed Greenfield Road between Germann and Queen Creek Roads.

One vehicle was swallowed by the sinkhole, but no other injuries or property damage has been reported.

It is unclear why the road collapsed.

This is the second sinkhole to appear in the East Valley in two weeks. A sinkhole on February 5 killed a farmer in Queen Creek.


Comment: For more information on this phenomenon see: Sinkholes: The groundbreaking truth