A sinkhole is caused when acidic rain seeps into the soil, making its way deep down to the bedrock that holds up the sand and soil under our feet. The process takes years, and sometimes even millennia, but eventually, the sandstone, limestone, chalk or whatever gives way and the sand or clay or dirt rushes down to fill the now vacant hole. When that happens, whatever was built on top of the sinkhole gets washed away with the sand and dirt. A sinkhole can open up at any moment, without warning. Here’s an unsettling thought: you could be sitting directly over a sinkhole in the making right now.
1. Japan Had a Massive Sinkhole Open Up Unexpectedly in the Middle of a Five-Lane Highway
2. The Town of Bayou Corne, Louisiana, Is Slowly Being Eaten By a Sinkhole That’s More than 24 Acres Wide and 750 Feet Deep
3. This Florida Backyard Was Swallowed Up Unexpectedly. The Sunshine State Seems to Have an Ongoing Problem With Sinkholes
4. Though Remote, This Sinkhole in Bolivar state, Venezuela is More than 314 Meters Deep and 350 Meters Wide
5. This Sinkhole, Which Opened Up in Montreal, Quebec Actually Swallowed Up a Major Piece of Farm Equipment
6. You’re Not Looking at a Beach, That’s What’s Left of a Local Basketball Court When a Sinkhole Caused By Super Storm Sandy Hit New Jersey
7. This Gaping Sinkhole Was a Result of Tropical Storm Agatha, Which Hit Guatemala City in 2010
8. Dean’s Blue Hole, Located in the Bahamas, is a Tourist Attraction Thanks to Its Stunning Underwater Views Which Extend More Than 100 Meters Below the Earth
9. Located Off the Coast of Belize, ‘The Great Blue Hole’ Actually Provides a Crystal Clear View of Some Incredible Underwater Sights
10. Yet Another Sinkhole That’s Become Something of a Tourist Attraction, Harwood Hole is Located in Abel Tasman National Park in New Zealand. It Has an Overall Depth of 357 Meters
11. This 60-Foot Wide Sinkhole Opened Underneath Florida’s Summer Bay Resort in Clermont, Florida, About 10 Minutes Away From Disney World
12. A Thousand Foot Sinkhole Opened Near a Subway Construction Site in Guangzhou China, But Fortunately No One Perished
13. More Often than Not, A Thundering Noise Precedes a Sinkhole. That’s What Happened Right Before This 40-Foot-Deep Sinkhole Opened in Guatemala
14. Because of Climate Change, Israel’s Famed Dead Sea is Slowly Drying Out. The Result is a Series of Sinkholes That Have Opened Up in the Sections That Are Parched
15. This 60-Foot Deep Sinkhole Managed to Swallow Entire Trees When it Opened in Orlando in June of 2002
16. Residents of Shenzen, China Witnessed Horror When a Collection of Old Water Pipes Ruptured After Several Days Heavy Rain
17. Several Classic Corvettes Were Ruined Beyond Repair When a Sinkhole Opened Up Underneath Bowling Green, Kentucky’s National Corvette Museum
