© Alexandr Sokolov
New funnel in Yerkuta is reported to be 8 meters in diameters and about 20 meters deep.
New funnel in Yerkuta is reported to be 8 meters in diameters and about 20 meters deep.
Scientists have located two fresh craters formed on Yamal peninsula this year, with the latest exploding on 28 June with the eruption picked up by new seismic sensors specifically designed to monitor such events, The Siberian Times can disclose.
First pictures of the large craters - or funnels as experts call them - are shown here, and add to four other big holes found in recent years and examined by experts, plus dozens of tiny ones spotted by satellite.
The formation of both craters involved an explosion followed by fire, evidently signs of the eruption of methane gas pockets under the Yamal surface.
People in Seyakha village heard a 'loud explosion-like bang' then saw a fire and clouds of black smoke, according to reports.
Deputy director of the Oil and Gas Research Institute, Moscow, Professor Vasily Bogoyavlensky said: 'We heard the news (about the new crater) from a friend who saw a flame of fire and then a rising pillar of smoke.'
The head of Seyakha village, Igor Okotetto, confirmed he had been told about the explosion.
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