Sinkholes
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Massive sinkhole appears in Manchester, UK after 'noises and grumbling' heard by residents

Mark Malloy
The Telegraph, UK
Mon, 17 Oct 2016 19:03 UTC
Manchester sinkhole
© Via Twitter@SgtAngelaFreud
A large sinkhole has appeared in the middle of a residential street in Greater Manchester with police urging motorists in the area to "give the road a miss".

The six-metre wide hole appeared at around 12.30am in Heywood Road, Prestwich, believed to have been caused by a collapsed sewer.

Residents were woken in the middle of the night by a loud 'banging' sound, the Manchester Evening News reports.

A resident named George, who did not give his surname, told the newspaper it was "a bit scary" and "kept getting bigger". "I had to wake everyone up to tell them to move their cars because it started to spread," he said.

Greater Manchester Police officers covering the Whitefield area also tweeted for motorists in the area to give the road a "miss for the next week or so. Big sinkhole one of our night sgts is looking into".

A spokesman for United Utilities said the road is "likely to be closed for a few weeks as engineers will need to excavate around it. It was reported to us in the early hours by the police," they said in a statement.
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Sinkhole at Florida fertilizer plant 152 ft. wide, overall depth unknown

Melissa Marino
WFLA
Mon, 17 Oct 2016 19:44 UTC
Mosaic sinkhole
© WFLA
Mosaic officials say they still don't know the depth of a sinkhole that opened up at the Mosaic plant near Mulberry last month.

The hole opened up in August, but the public did not know about it until WFLA News Channel 8 broke the story.

On Monday, Mosaic officials released details about the size of the sinkhole, which ranges between 40 feet, and 150 feet in diameter at its widest point, and approximately 220 feet deep from the top of the gypstack. Mosaic recently used LIDAR/sonar equipment to measure the sinkhole. LiDAR is a remote sensing technology that uses light in the form of a pulsed laser to provide three-dimensional mapping. This technology expedites the remediation process.

"Based on the survey results, the company now has a better understanding of the sinkhole dimensions - which is a critical step in remediating the sinkhole," Mosaic said in a release. "We continue to work with closely with FDEP and continue to keep Polk County and Hillsborough County apprised of our efforts to remediate the sinkhole."


Comment: To find out more about how sinkholes are formed and the dramatic increase we've observed recently, see: Sinkholes: The groundbreaking truth.

See also: 215M gallons of 'slightly radioactive' water drained into Florida aquifer

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Mysterious hole discovered in Norwegian glacier

Natanael Waage
Norway Today
Sun, 16 Oct 2016 06:27 UTC
hole in Blåmannsisen, Norway
© Vebjørn Karlsen / NTB scanpixA "mysterious" hole in the Blåmannsisen in the Arctic.
330 Squadron discovered a large hole in the glacier Blåmannsisen in Nordland when they flew over the area as a part of a military excercise trip.

It is not normal that they are so big. The ones forming during the summer, are usually between 20 and 30 centimeters in width, Atle Nesje, a professor at the Geological Institute of the University of Bergen, says to TV 2.

Kjetil Wiik at 330 Squadron says this hole seemed to be between 15 and 20 meters in diameter, and went very far down the ice.

Nesje thinks the hole is a melt hole formed when the melt water has been present on the surface of glacier. This is relatively common in Norwegian glaciers.

Due to the pressure it has melted itself down into glacier. When a hole appears in the glacier, it has emptied itself of the water, Nesje says, and informs that the water usually works its way through the ice until it reaches the bottom.

Norwegian glacier hole
© Vebjørn Karlsen / NTB scanpix

Comment: Another possible explanation to this mysterious hole is discussed in this article: SOTT Exclusive: The growing threat of underground fires and explosions
In 2014 a mysterious crater-hole was discovered in the Yamal peninsular, northwest Siberia, Russia. It was 'probably caused by methane released as permafrost thawed' according to researchers, and the result of 'internal forces not seen in 8,000 years'. Since then new information has come to light, with witnesses reporting an 'explosion' and a 'glow in the sky' from 100 km away.

This would indicate an extremely powerful explosion occurred from below to form this 'crater-hole', in a region known in the local Nenets language as the 'end of the world'. The recent discovery by scientists of methane 'bubbles' on the remote Belyy Island in the Kara Sea off the Yamal Peninsula coastline may be another alarming sign of increased activity in the depths.


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Massive sinkhole appears in Fayetteville, North Carolina

Hope Ford
wfmynews2.com
Mon, 10 Oct 2016 11:31 UTC
Massive sinkhole off of Bingham Drive in Fayetteville due to Hurricane Matthew.
Massive sinkhole off of Bingham Drive in Fayetteville due to Hurricane Matthew.
Pictures don't do it justice. That's the reason many people drove up and walked to Bingham Drive in Fayetteville to see, for themselves, the massive sinkhole in the roadway.

Hurricane Matthew unleashed a fury of wind and water; opening at least, a quarter of a mile hole across the road.

"It looks like something out of a movie," said Fayetteville resident, Laura Dillenger.

Her neighbor, Petra Turner, drove down with her to capture the moment of their cell phones.

"Whoa, whoa. I've never seen anything like that before," Turner exclaimed.

TV crews, dads with their kids, cousins daring each other to get as close to the edge as possible; all in awe of the destruction Matthew left behind.

"I walk this road every day. Tomorrow, my walk will be short," laughed Lawrence Surles, a 33-year resident of Fayetteville.
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Huge sinkhole appears at landfill site in Virginia Beach, Virginia

Mary Beth Gahan
The Virginian-Pilot
Tue, 11 Oct 2016 11:01 UTC
Sinkhole
© Virginia Beach Public Works
The city landfill is closed until further notice after heavy rain and flooding from Hurricane Matthew created a Grand Canyon of sorts there.

Water filled up a quarter-mile ditch that runs around the site off Centerville Turnpike, then spilled over into a borrow pit and caused "extensive damage," according to the Department of Public Works.

The ditch, which used to be 4 feet deep, now bottoms out at 30 feet.

A concrete-block bathroom was washed away, along with an exit road at the landfill and eight sections of 36-inch pipe. A pump that was in the pit has disappeared. An excavator and a horizontal grinder - two large pieces of construction equipment - are submerged up to their cabs.

Electricity has been shut off at the site, and the city has dammed up the water going into the borrow pit to slow the flow, said Drew Lankford, public works spokesman. Extra pumps have been added to drain the pit. The road will also need to be repaired.

"It's going to be several days before we're up and running," Lankford said.

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Huge sinkhole opens on Miami Beach, Florida


WSVN
Fri, 07 Oct 2016 11:40 UTC
Miami sinkhole
© WSVN
Crews have repaired a water main break that caused a sinkhole on Miami Beach, Friday morning.

It remains unknown if it was caused by the severe weather experienced in Miami-Dade, Thursday.

The sinkhole is located on 41st Street and Royal Palm Avenue, near the Julia Tuttle Causeway.

Crews repaired the leak quickly, but only one eastbound lane is open along 41st Street, heading towards the beach, as repairs to the road continues Friday afternoon.

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Seven-meter deep sinkhole discovered near public school in Central Visayas, Philippines

Justin K. Vestil
Sun Star Cebu
Fri, 07 Oct 2016 13:44 UTC
Sinkhole. Residents of Barangay Bugas in Badian town in southern Cebu are baffled by the sight of a seven-meter deep hole on the ground after heavy rains.
© RBA AeriaSinkhole. Residents of Barangay Bugas in Badian town in southern Cebu are baffled by the sight of a seven-meter deep hole on the ground after heavy rains.
A seven-meter deep sinkhole was found a few meters from a public elementary school in Barangay Bugas, Badian town earlier this week.

Due to the presence of the sinkhole in Sitio Purok 2, Barangay Bugas, officials of Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) 7 urged residents to stay away from the area while the ground there is unstable.

Eulalio Raboy, Barangay Bugas chief, told reporters that the sinkhole was first sighted by residents last Tuesday.

The sinkhole, with a depth of seven meters and a width of three meters, was found a few meters from Barangay Bugas Elementary School.

Luckily, the sinkhole has not affected any school structure or any house nearby, Raboy added.
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Sinkhole swallows car, passengers in Adelaide Hills, Australia


BBC
Wed, 05 Oct 2016 17:09 UTC
Suzuki-in-a-sinkhole
© Jordanna Schriever
A South Australian couple were left "shaken" after they and their car were swallowed by a 3m-wide sinkhole.

According to local residents, the driver and passenger were sitting inside the car taking in the view in the Adelaide Hills when the earth gave way underneath them.

The vehicle is believed to have been parked above an abandoned mine shaft, excavated more than 150 years ago. SA Police said the pair were shocked but not seriously injured.

They managed to get out of the car themselves. Council workers arrived on Wednesday to remove the vehicle with a crane. Local woman Helen Behrens told The Advertiser newspaper said the couple had knocked on her door on Tuesday saying they had had an accident.

"They were pretty shaken up. They phoned the police and as soon as they got here," she said.
A neighbour, Neville Sharpe, also told the newspaper the couple were quite distressed.

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Massive sinkhole, water main break and gas leak leads to evacuations in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania; 3 homes condemned


69 News
Thu, 29 Sep 2016 21:50 UTC
Bethlhem sinkhole
© Lehigh Valley Live
Thousands of people were left in the dark and several blocks were evacuated early Thursday morning after the 911 caller indicated a water main break and smelled gas near the 700 block of New Street. Since then, power has been restored in most places and several people have been allowed back into their homes in the area, except for those who live near or along the 700 block of New Street.

The fire chief said because of the nature of the sinkhole some buildings on the 700 block of New Street are "off-limits" for safety reasons. While three homes were condemned, a city fire official said on Thursday night they're monitoring other homes, too. "Nobody will be going in those homes on either the east or the west side of that street because they're still making sure that the ground underneath is going to be stabilized," said Bethlehem Fire Chief Robert Novatnack.
Bethlehem sinkhole
© Lehigh Valley Live
Clifford Anderson, who rents an apartment in one of the impacted homes, retrieved some belongings after firefighters escorted him inside. "I just got to get a suitcase and get out of here for a few days," said Anderson.

Several crews, including city departments and UGI, were on the scene all day investigating what happened first: the gas leak, water main break, or the sinkhole. At this point, there's no clear answer. Novatnack described the sinkhole almost as if it were a cavern. "Well, it's in the middle of the street and undermined pretty far," said Novatnack. "They'll be jackhammering and taking out part ofthe macadam and concrete until they find the end of it. They're not there yet," said Novatnack on Thursday afternoon.

The big problems created a rude awakening for residents along New Street. "The fireman came pounding on my door about quarter to 8 in the morning saying they were evacuating," said Linda Groff, who quickly left her home with her small dog.
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Five sinkholes open within two days in Hyderabad, India


Deccan Chronicle
Fri, 23 Sep 2016 07:19 UTC
Sinkhole in Hyderabad, India
© Deccan Chronicle A fresh road cave-in at King Koti. So far, five sinkholes have appeared across the city.
Three more sinkholes opened up on Thursday, taking the total to five after just two days of rain. A one-metre diameter sinkhole opened up on the road opposite HDFC Bank in Basheerbagh and another one on the road at King Koti.

Earlier in the day, a four-foot deep sinkhole formed on the Shivam Road near Amberpet on Thursday, the third after two days of rain following the ones on NTR Marg and at Neredmet.

A tanker-trolley got stuck in the Shivam Road sinkhole at about 6 am on Thursday, and was cleared using two large cranes at about noon. The accident caused a massive traffic jam and congestion along the busy road from Osmania University to Amberpet. Traffic police barricaded the sinkhole, even as emergency repairs were being undertaken.

At Basheerbagh, Narayanaguda traffic inspector A. Balaji said he and his team had barricaded the sinkholes. "The road at Basheerbagh is a busy route. We have diverted traffic from one side of the road. GHMC and water works officials will begin repairs from Friday morning," he said.

About the massive NTR Marg sinkhole that had opened up on Wednesday, Sewerage and Water Board MD M. Dana Kishore said six teams had been set up to reduce water flow into the site.

Emergency response teams have been posted at the sinkhole itself. Infrastructure Repairs will begin after the flow of water stops. Another sinkhole had opened at Neredmet on Wednesday.

Comment: Sinkholes: The groundbreaking truth

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