Sinkholes
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Sinkhole opens up on Santa Cruz coast, California

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© KSBWA sinkhole opened up in Santa Cruz on Saturday morning forcing the closure of part of West Cliff Drive.
A sinkhole opened up on Saturday morning in Santa Cruz, forcing the closure of part of West Cliff Drive.

Santa Cruz police said an ocean cave is below the sinkhole.

Authorities closed West Cliff Drive between Woodrow Avenue and Colombia for several hours while the hole was assessed.

The area near the sinkhole remains blocked off until crews can close it up.

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Saving Private Ryan: Grave of First World War soldier lost to sinkhole in Pembroke Dock, UK

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Sinkhole: The remains of Private Francis Ryan have been swallowed up by a giant sinkhole that opened up beneath his war grave in Pembroke Dock Military Cemetery
* The remains of Private Francis Ryan have been swallowed by the sinkhole

* His headstone remains teetering on the edge of the 20ft deep hole

* The soldier served in the 3rd Batallion, King's Liverpool Regiment, and died in England in July 1915. He was born in Longford, Ireland

* Military have so far failed in efforts to trace his relatives

* Sinkhole in Pembroke Dock will be filled with grout to stop the grave sinking

Military chiefs are fighting to save the grave of a First World War soldier called Private Ryan after a giant sinkhole opened up in a cemetery.

The body of the serviceman who died aged 40 has been lost after the 20ft deep hole appeared in the spot where his body was laid to rest.

Private Francis Ryan, who served in the 3rd Battalion, King's Liverpool Regiment, died in England in July 1915.

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Sinkhole discovered on university campus, Pennsylvania

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A pesky problem on Penn State's University Park campus was discovered over the weekend, as a large sinkhole formed, closing down part of a parking lot. The lot was closed outside of the Electrical Engineering Building. Officials with the Office of Physical Plant were not immediately available for comment. There was no word on how long repairs will take to fill the hole.

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4ft deep sinkhole forces road closure in Swindon, UK

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A sinkhole has opened up along Linslade Road, Rodbourne. Pictured is Robert Gosling of Ron’s Stores who feels it has affected his business
A 4ft-deep sinkhole opened on a residential road in Rodbourne forcing the council to close it to traffic until further notice.

The 1ft wide crater on Linslade Street is believed to have appeared yesterday morning.

Council workers barred the street to traffic later that day, placing cones and barriers around it.

Robert Gosling, partner at Ron's Stores hardware shop, alerted the local authority after placing bin bags around the hole to ensure no one drove over or accidentally stepped into it.

"I reported it to the council and they turned up an hour-and-a-half later," he said.

"We were just driving out to a delivery when we saw some people around the hole. We got out to have a look.

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Schoolbus carrying nine disabled students trapped by sinkhole in New York City

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Trapped: A deep sinkhole caused by a water main rupture in Washington Heights sunk a city school bus Tuesday as kids were heading to school
* Ruptured water main on W. 164th St. in Washington Heights, New York caused sinkhole

* Bus carrying nine students and four aides trapped about 8am

* No-one was injured

* Residents say it is an ongoing problem


New York Daily News reported the bus was towed from the street between Broadway and St. Nicholas Avenue, and the passengers were taken to school on another bus. No-one was injured.

A city Department of Environmental Protection spokeswoman said crews repaired the 12-inch water main and made temporary fixes to the street, but planned to return tonight to make permanent repairs.

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Sinking Britain! Now sinkholes even threaten the dead as they appear in a Kent cemetery

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© SWNSThe soil has begun to sink at a cemetary in Kent
Giant sinkholes are not only threatening Britain's homes, roads and parks they are now even disturbing the dead.

Huge chasms have begun to appear in a cemetery in Gravesend exposing unmarked graves and leaving families fearing for the loved ones they have lost.

Cemetery bosses spoke of their shock at seeing the huge number of graves being engulfed by the sodden ground following weeks of wet weather.

A council spokesman told Kent Online: "It is quite common for graves to sink - especially after a period of heavy rain. But none of the staff has seen anything of this scale."

He added that staff were working hard to fill the holes believed to be due to the recent storms and heavy rain experienced across the country.

He continued: "We have been working hard to top up the affected graves using extra staff from other teams and the Team Green. It is a gradual process but it is a priority to deal with them."

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Another huge sinkhole in Philadelphia partially swallows another garbage truck

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© NBC10.com/Daralene Jones
The temperature warm-up and snow meltdown may have contributed to a string of water main breaks across the City of Philadelphia on Friday.

The largest of 10 active water main breaks in the city occurred on the 1300 block of N. Wanamaker St. in West Philadelphia, where a sinkhole opened up on a flooded street, nearly swallowing a city garbage truck.

"I could feel the pipes rumbling beneath my feet and the ground shaking," resident Zahir Yancey said as he described the moments before the hole opened up.

"It looks like a cave. I've never seen anything like that in my life, it's absurd," he said.

Gladys Holliday, who also lives on the block, says she saw the entire incident unfold.

Comment: 13 Jan 2014: Sinkhole eats up trash truck in Philadelphia!

16 Dec 2013: Another sinkhole emerges on same Philadelphia street where truck was almost swallowed a week ago

05 Dec 2013: Sinkhole nearly swallows pickup truck in Philadelphia

31 Jul 2013: Another sinkhole opens in Philadelphia, swallows car!


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Huge sinkhole swallows car and driver in Rockville Centre, Long Island

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Rescue crews rescued a Long Island woman after her car was swallowed by a former cesspool that opened up the ground.

A woman's car was swallowed up by a huge sinkhole right in her own driveway in Rockville Centre.

"It's really hard to describe, it's just all of sudden swish, and stop," said Gail Sorrentino, sinkhole victim.

Gail Sorrentino took a very strange ride in her car Friday afternoon and she didn't even have to leave her driveway.

"I pulled in I'm looking at the arbor, and then I'm looking at the dirt," Sorrentino said, "The car just went down with no sound, no booms, no rattles no nothing."

After pulling into the spot where she's parked every day for years, she found herself and her car suddenly underground after the earth swallowed her Subaru with Gail still in the driver's seat.

There was nothing she could do but call 911.

"I said, 'I'm calling from my car which is in a sinkhole in my driveway.' And there was this pause at the other end. And she said, 'Ma'am?' I said, 'I'm in the car!'" Sorrentino said.

"You handled yourself very well," said John Thorp, Rockville Centre Fire Chief.

"Thank you!" Sorrentino said.

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Massive 40-foot deep sinkhole forms at busy Ottawa intersection

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© John Holtby and Brian BancroftThis sinkhole formed early Friday after a road collapse in downtown Ottawa.
24-hour work by Rideau Transit Group began Wednesday for light rail transit system

A sinkhole eight metres wide and 12 metres deep has opened up at the construction site digging the eastern entrance to Ottawa's light rail tunnel.

The cause isn't yet known, city officials said. No one was injured.

Ottawa police reported the sinkhole on Waller Street, just south of Laurier Avenue, at about 1 a.m. Police said the road collapsed leaving a hole on the Transitway near the University of Ottawa.

A news release from the City of Ottawa confirmed the sinkhole formed where workers had been tunnelling for the eastern portal of the Confederation Line LRT project.

It said work crews from the Rideau Transit Group had begun 24-hour tunnelling operations on Wednesday, and that they were working at the site when the sinkhole formed.

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Sinkhole opens up under car in Burlington mall parking lot, Massachusetts

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A sinkhole opened up under a car in the parking lot of the Burlington Mall just after 3:30 Thursday afternoon.

The Burlington Fire Department said the sinkhole formed when the pavement buckled as the result of a water main break.

Emergency crews on the scene surrounded the vehicle with cones in the section of the parking lot near Sears.

The mall was closed at 5 p.m. due to water problems caused by the break in the main. The owner of the car was working inside the mall when the announcement was made.

"So we're all like closing the register, cleaning out the store, and then we just like left and went to the parking lot," says Kelly Gordon. "And that's when I saw my car."

Kelly had joked about the situation until she went out to the parking lot. "I was really, really mad and then I started crying when I got on the phone with my dad," she says.

Crews were working to fix the water main break late Thursday night and a spokesperson says the mall will be open at the normal time on Friday.