A blazing sinkhole in northwest China terrified locals, attracting tourists as well as researchers and prompting questions about its origin.
The temperature on top of the burning crater was estimated to be 792 degrees Celsius (1,457 degrees Fahrenheit).
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Screenshot from YouTube user GooNooNews
Due to the deadly heat, scientists have been unable to come close enough to the crater to measure how deep it really is. Located in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, near Urumqi, in northwest China, the sinkhole is 0.9 meters (3 feet) wide.
It is
hot enough to light up branches and other objects placed next to it. Various tourist videos show people setting things on fire.
Locals have dubbed it a "gateway to hell." Many have told the Chinese media that the ground in the area has been hot for some time now.
There is no volcanic activity in the region, which led
scientists from the Xinjiang Meitian Geological Bureau to believe that the sinkhole was created out of coal seam spontaneously combusting.
The area was reportedly used for mining in the 1970s, China Central TV cited a supervisor from Xinjiang Meitian Fire Engineering Bureau, Chen Long, as saying, the Daily Mail reported.
Comment: Mining companies usually neglect protecting the environment for financial reasons. It's cheap to leave Nature dying after taking all mineral resources. The first thing you notice is
dust in the air causing disease in humans and animals.
Water aquifers get depleted, because the mine pumps too much water to clean the coal and that results in the groundwater and Artesian wells drying out.
Coal-fired power plants, which produce almost half of the country's electricity, have significant impacts on water quantity and quality in the United States. Water is used to extract, wash, and sometimes transport the coal; to cool the steam used to make electricity in the power plant; and to control pollution from the plant. The acts of mining and burning coal, as well as dealing with the waste, also can have major effects on water quality
Comment: Mining companies usually neglect protecting the environment for financial reasons. It's cheap to leave Nature dying after taking all mineral resources. The first thing you notice is dust in the air causing disease in humans and animals. Water aquifers get depleted, because the mine pumps too much water to clean the coal and that results in the groundwater and Artesian wells drying out.