Giant sink hole appears just feet from front door of elderly couple's £210,000 bungalow

An elderly couple  fear their £210,000 bungalow could be swallowed up after a giant sink hole  appeared in their front garden.

Great-grandparents  David Mason, 77, and his wife Sylvia, 75, first spotted a small hole by the kerb  outside their home on December 30 but thought it was caused by a  lorry.

But the hole  expanded at a 'staggering' speed and now measures 16ft by 12ft and is only a few  feet away from their front door.

Mr Mason, who  lives at the property in Cottingham, Northamptonshire, said today: 'I am  genuinely concerned about the safety of our property because the hole is  creeping nearer our front door almost by the hour.

'My wife is  disabled after having a stroke a few years ago and this is causing more worry  for her because if we have to get out we don't know where we'll go.

'The speed of it  happening has been quite staggering.'

Mr Mason, who ran  a motorcycle repair business before he retired, added: 'It got progressively  worse, so I got the police out and they put a temporary barrier around  it.

'They must have  contacted someone because later that night someone came out to put a more  permanent enclosure around the hole.

'It was amazing  how rapidly it escalated. We just sat and watched it happen in front of our  eyes.'

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2902106/Giant-sink-hole-app...

Sinkhole opens up under Kelso man’s car

http://www.kirotv.com/news/news/sinkhole-opens-under-kelso-mans-car...

KELSO, Wash. — 

Huge sinkhole swallows lorry in Nanning, China

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/trucking-hell-sinkhole-swal...

This is the incredible moment a yawning hole opened up and SWALLOWED a truck.

Chinese driver Li Hung lived up to his name when he found himself hanging over the edge of a huge sinkhole that had opened up behind his lorry.

Li, 35, had been driving back to work in Nanning City, China, when he started to feel his vehicle slipping backwards.

He said: "It almost felt as if I hadn't put the brake on and I had started to roll downhill, but I had my foot on the brake and I realise that I was tipping back not because I was moving, but because of the sinking."

He told local TV he opened the door and jumped out just as the lorry disappeared into the huge hole.

This is the incredible moment a yawning hole opened up and SWALLOWED a truck.

Chinese driver Li Hung lived up to his name when he found himself hanging over the edge of a huge sinkhole that had opened up behind his lorry.

Li, 35, had been driving back to work in Nanning City, China, when he started to feel his vehicle slipping backwards.

He said: "It almost felt as if I hadn't put the brake on and I had started to roll downhill, but I had my foot on the brake and I realise that I was tipping back not because I was moving, but because of the sinking."

He told local TV he opened the door and jumped out just as the lorry disappeared into the huge hole.

Local road safety officials are investigating the cause but believe it was a burst pipe which had eroded the soil underneath the road.

Elsewhere in China, a man leaped from his car just seconds before it was swallowed by a 13ft sinkhole at crossroads in Jinjiang, in China's Fujian province.

It opened up last month after a heavy goods vehicle passed over it.

In November a woman was swallowed by a sinkhole while she was hanging out the washing and had to be rescued by firefighters.

Mother-of-six Christina Beaumont, 52, was in her back garden in Melbourne, Australia when the three-metre deep sinkhole opened up beneath her and submerged her in water.

http://www.dailycamera.com/lafayette-news/ci_27302607/lafayette-sin...

Lafayette Colorado sinkhole nearly swallows SUV; repair could take months - January 12

Members of Lafayette's public works and police departments look over a large sinkhole that opened Monday on East Cleveland Street between Foote and Burlington avenues. City officials say it could take months to repair.

LAFAYETTE — It could take months for crews to repair a sinkhole that opened above an old mine shaft on East Cleveland Street early Monday morning, nearly swallowing a SUV whole.

The sinkhole opened in the pre-dawn hours on East Cleveland between between Foote and Burlington avenues, above what used to be the main shaft of the Simpson coal mine — leaving a 15-foot-deep hole filled with water and debris in the middle of the street.

A car and its driver were perilously close to also ending up at the bottom of the sinkhole. The man told police he was driving through what he thought was a pothole at 5 a.m. Monday when he felt the asphalt suddenly "collapse around him," according to Debbie Wilmot, a spokeswoman with the city of Lafayette.

A SUV teeters on the edge of a sinkhole that opened above an old mine shaft under East Cleveland Street between Foote and Burlington avenues in Lafayette on Monday. (Courtesy Coyocihault Carbone)

Police responded to the scene and stabilized the vehicle long enough for the driver to get out without any injury. The SUV was then towed from its precarious perch.

Don Kinney lives just yards from the hole and said he was awakened by a loud "thump."

"I came out to look at it and thought I was dreaming," Kinney said of the gaping hole in the street. "I've lived here 30 years and it's the first time I've seen this."

Wilmot said the sinkhole opened up over the main shaft of the old Simpson mine, which was shut down 88 years ago. She said the shaft had been filled in, but it appears recent rains had caused the fill to erode away.

"The combination of weather and conditions were just right for it to happen at this point," Wilmot said. "It was not any one overarching event that caused it."

Crews said no gas or water lines were damaged when the sinkhole opened.

Giant Sinkhole Opens at Scottish Golf Course (Jan 14)

A 14-foot-deep sinkhole suddenly appeared at Traigh Golf Club’s course in northwest Scotland.

Now there are financial concerns about whether the golf club can remain open. It will cost about £20,000 to repair. Without repairs, half the golf course will revert to bog.

Sources

http://www.cbssports.com/golf/eye-on-golf/24963364/look-this-golf-c...

http://www.golfclubmanagement.net/2015/01/amazing-image-sinkhole-ap...

Another Huge Sinkhole in SE China Nearly Swallows Car (Jan 15)

Sheng Hsu, 43, was on his way to work when the huge chasm appeared in the road.

Luckily, he was able to make a dramatic, last-gasp exit from the vehicle.

He said: "I had just slowed down because there was a bit of a queue and leaned in to switch the radio on.

"When I leaned back I felt a vibration that I thought was something to do with the speakers at first.

"When the car started to move I stupidly pulled on the handbrake thinking I was rolling backwards, but then I realised I was the tipping over to the side."

Looking out the window, Sheng saw a huge hole appearing in the road as the tarmac vanished into the ground.

Acting instinctively, he crashed open the door and managed to scramble out before the car tipped inside.

He said: "I dread to think what would have happened if the traffic had been speeding along at the usual rate. It's pretty busy at all times of day here."

It is not the first time a huge sinkhole has appeared under a road or a building in Guangzhou.

Council officials have ordered an enquiry to see what can be done to prevent similar problems in the future.

Source

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/pictures-huge-sinkhole-swal...

Another horse, another sinkhole:

Horse successfully removed from sinkhole

http://www.ksby.com/news/update-horse-successfully-removed-from-sin...

A horse stuck in a sinkhole east of Arroyo Grande has been extricated, according to CAL FIRE.

The update came shortly before 1:40 p.m. Tuesday.

Crews responded to the 900 block of Sunray Place late Tuesday morning and a veterinarian was also contacted.

An update on the horses condition was not immediately available, but CAL FIRE says the extrication was successful.

Pennsylvania Home Demolished After Sinkhole Swallows Basement (Jan 24)

A home that sustained heavy damage after a sinkhole opened beneath it has been demolished.

On Saturday, construction crews razed the home in the 2400 block of Freemansburg Avenue in Wilson Borough.

"It's tilted to one side, the foundation has failed in two places," said Robert Pitera, who has owned the house for 15 years, on Friday. "There's really nothing left of this house, this house has to come down."

"There's no basement, there's a big giant hole in the basement;  everything that I had down there is in the hole in the water," explained Pitera.

"I feel terrible. I would never want that to happen to me, ever," said Cregg Lutri, who lives across the street.

"It's kind of scary because you wonder how big the sinkhole is," said Jayne Snyder, another neighbor.

Source

http://www.wfmz.com/news/news-regional-lehighvalley/house-near-coll...

Sinkhole big enough to swallow vehicle opens in Beaumont - Jan 27

http://eaglefordtexas.com/news/id/145335/sinkhole-big-enough-swallo...

BEAUMONT, Texas — A sinkhole big enough to swallow a vehicle has opened on a Southeast Texas street.

Engineers in Beaumont say it could take a couple of weeks to repair the hole that opened Tuesday.

Beaumont traffic engineer Zheng Tan Tan says a possible storm sewer line rupture probably caused the sinkhole in a neighborhood.

Joyce Bodwin lives nearby and says she’s concerned about the safety of people who use the street, including buses that transport students to a nearby school.

The area remains blocked off during repairs.

Chitravathi riverbed sinkhole in India - Jan 31

http://www.deccanchronicle.com/150131/nation-current-affairs/articl...

Sinkholes closed road in Hackettstown twice in one week, police say

http://www.nj.com/warrenreporter/index.ssf/2015/02/sinkholes_closed...

HACKETTSTOWN—At 8:33 a.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 10, Hackettstown Police reported that Washington Street was closed between Grand Avenue and Valentine Street because of a sinkhole, according to the Hackettstown Police Facebook page.

Just more than five hours later, police reported that Washington Street was reopened.

Sgt. Darre Tynan was not immediately available for comment on whether or not the sinkhole was fully repaired by the Hackettstown Municipal Utility Authority.

The same area was also reported to be closed because of sinkhole repair on Thursday, Feb. 5, from 1:40 p.m. to 5:40 p.m.

Sinkhole Swallows Snow Plow in New Jersey (Feb 17)

While plowing this morning, a truck driver carrying salt fell at least 15 feet into the ground when the truck was swallowed by a sinkhole.

Residents on Wordsworth Lane noticed they lost water last night, but were not immediately notified of the water main break.

Although her daughter Caitlin heard a loud crash this morning, Cindy Viestich was caught off guard when the plow driver knocked on her door.

The accident occurred at 7:30 a.m. right in front of her home, and she said the driver climbed out of the truck's cab inside the wide sinkhole and called 911 from her home.

Inside the deep sinkhole, that extends under the roadway like a cavern, Vielstich said water was gushing under the truck before being shut off.

The driver was taken to the hospital for minor injuries and by 8:30 a.m. heavy duty tow trucks arrived at the scene.

At 1:30 p.m., tow truck operators from Stew's Auto Body in Washington were still on the scene, attempting to remove the truck from the hole with two machines working at once to pull the truck up and out, and just before 2 p.m. the truck was finally freed.

Elizabeth Town Gas, Warren County Hazmat and Lopatcong Township fire and EMS crews were all on standby at the scene, prepared for the worst.

At this time, residents who live directly near the sinkhole have been advised to leave their cars in their driveways and stay home.

Sources

http://www.nj.com/warrenreporter/index.ssf/2015/02/plow_sinkhole_nj...

http://www.wptv.com/weather/weather-blogs/snow-plow-vs-sinkhole-the...

http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/phillipsburg/index.ssf/2015/02/repa...

11 Killed, 30 Injured in N Korean Sinkhole Collapse (Feb 18)

11 people—most of them women—were killed and around 30 injured in North Korea when earth they were plowing collapsed beneath them, burying the victims alive.

The workers had been mobilized to plow at the Jonghap Farm in Yanggang province, along the border with China.

Due to low temperatures during the winter, much of the earth had been turned to ice, and the workers—from the Baek-du Youth Team, and the Baek-am Tile Works and Rural Construction Unit—had been ordered to dig until they found unfrozen soil, the source said.

However, a sinkhole had developed beneath the ice and when the workers pierced through the frozen layer of soil, the ground collapsed, burying them alive.

Four tractors had been deployed for four days as part of the rescue effort.

It was unclear how the sinkhole formed.

Source

http://www.rfa.org/english/news/korea/sinkhole-02182015161048.html

http://www.koreatimesus.com/11-dead-30-injured-in-n-korean-sinkhole...

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2963994/Sinkhole-opens-midd...

More than 380 people evacuated in Naples after enormous sinkhole opens up over a SEWER

PUBLISHED: 11:01 EST, 22 February 2015 | UPDATED: 12:21 EST, 22 February 2015

Residents in Naples, Italy woke up this morning to a massive sinkhole that opened up in the middle of a street. 

Officials say the sinkhole started off as a depression in the road and is most likely caused by a broken sewer. 

'It was 5 this morning when I heard a huge thud. I looked out and saw the road collapse and swallow a car,' a woman who lives in a neighboring apartment told Il Mattino. 

+3

A sinkhole opened up in the middle of a street in Naples, Italy early Sunday morning. It's believed that a broken sewer caused the sinkhole

None of the surrounding buildings showed sign of damage, but nonetheless the four condominiums surrounding the crater were evacuated on Sunday with city officials scrambling to find accommodations for the 380 displaced locals. 

'We are in contact with hotel facilities in the area in order to accommodate everyone and try to reduce as far as possible, the inconvenience to citizens,' an official said. 

David Lezzi, the operations manager of the site, said crews will first figure out the extent of the hole before trying to stabilize it with concrete.

Reports did not say when residents might be able to return to their homes.  The area has been cordoned off. 

Next steps: Engineers plan to stabilize the sinkhole by filling it with concrete. It's unclear when the evacuated families will be able to return to their homes

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2965385/Are-Siberia-...

Are Siberia's mysterious craters caused by climate change? Scientists find four new enormous holes in northern Russia

• Four new craters have been spotted by scientists in the Yamal peninsula, in Siberia
• May be caused by gas from underground and fear craters becoming more common due to rising temperatures
• Bright flash of light seen  to one crater which led to theories that buried gas pockets in the soil may be igniting 
• Another new crater has been found less than six miles from a major gas plant and experts have called for an urgent investigation into the phenomenon 

Four new mysterious giant craters have appeared in the Siberian  in northern Russia, sparking fears that global warming may be causing gas to erupt from underground.

Scientists spotted the new holes, along with dozens of other smaller ones, in the same area as three other enormous craters that were spotted on the Yamal Peninsula last year.

The craters are thought to be caused by  of  gas from the permafrost as rising rising temperatures causes the frozen soil to melt.

Scroll down for video 

Unexplained: The first of the new craters discovered, named B1 (pictured above), shows signs of an huge eruption of gas

It has sparked fears that the craters could become more common as climate change continues to warm and led to warnings that the area is facing a looming natural disaster.

This map shows the location of the new craters (labelled B1-4) along with the previously discovered holes marked with black dots

Are you SURE that's not a tunnel? Massive sinkhole opens up just yards from fence of category C prison - but officials insist there's no chance of a breakout 

• Sinkhole appeared outside HMP The Mount in Bovingdon, Hertfordshire
• Hole was filled in with concrete and soil only fot it to re-appear days later
• It is just yards from prison walls and believed to be 15ft deep and 6ft wide 

A massive sinkhole has opened up just yards from the fence of a prison - but officials insist there is no chance of any inmates escaping.

The hole first appeared just outside the walls of HMP The Mount in Bovingdon, Hertforshire in January.

Staff at the 770-capacity prison filled the sinkhole with soil and concrete - but it re-emerged and is now believed to be about 6ft wide and 15ft deep.

'There is some concern that more could appear as that land has already been earmarked for a housing development.'

The hole comes after a similar crater opened up in nearby Hemel Hempstead, Hertforshire, last February.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2979660/Are-SURE-s-not-tunn... 

Sinkhole opens up at Fort Campbell

http://www.wsmv.com/story/28397120/sinkhole-opens-up-at-fort-campbell

FORT CAMPBELL, KY (WSMV) -

A sinkhole forced soldiers at Fort Campbell to take evasive maneuvers to get around post.

The 20-by-20 hole opened up on Monday on the corner of Wickham Avenue and 101st Road Cole Park Commons.

Geologist Kallina Dunkle with Austin Peay State University believes the snow and ice followed by rain caused the sinkhole.

Dunkle said sinkholes are fairly common in Tennessee, particularly in Clarksville where there is a lot of limestone. Dozens of sinkholes have opened up on Austin Peay's campus over the past decade.

"We can imagine where typically a series of caves or systems that might be connected, and so when all that soil starts to get washed out into the underlying system, you end up with a depression at the top," Dunkle said.

Last spring, construction crews discovered a relatively small sinkhole near Austin Peay's football field. The sinkhole expanded and was nearly 60 feet deep.

Mysterious Giant Crater-like Structures Found near New-Zealand

http://www.sci-news.com/othersciences/geophysics/article00985.html

A multinational team of researchers led by marine geophysicist Dr Bryan Davy from GNS Science has found what may be the world’s biggest pockmarks on the seafloor about 310 miles east of Christchurch, New Zealand.

Three giant pockmarks – crater-like structures on the seabed – found by the team are possibly twice the size of the largest pockmarks ever recorded.

Scientists believe they are the ancient remnants of vigorous degassing from under the seafloor into the ocean. The structures (the largest being 6.8 miles by 3.7 miles in diameter and 328 feet deep) are at water depths of about 0.6 miles and there is currently no sign of gas being emitted from them.

The team investigated the larger seafloor structures on the German research ship Sonne. Their aim was to determine the geological origin of the structures, which were first noted in 2007.

“Some of the pockmarks are huge compared to similar structures observed elsewhere in the world,” Dr Davy said. “It’s most unusual for scientists to encounter seafloor structures of this size and complexity. They are big enough to enclose the Wellington city urban area, or lower Manhattan.”

The geological processes that led to the formation of the larger structures were still unclear.

“There were clear indications in seismic reflection records of gas pockets and fluid flow structures in the deeper sediments underneath the pockmarks,” explained Dr Joerg Bialas from GEOMAR Helmholtz Center for Ocean Research in Kiel, Germany.

“The pockmark features are covered by complex layers of more recent sediment. Gas release from the larger pockmarks may have been sudden and possibly even violent, with a massive volume being expelled into the ocean and atmosphere within hours or days,” he said.

Scientists cannot rule out volcanic activity, directly or indirectly, having generated the release of gas. Another possibility is the release of sub-seafloor hydrocarbon gas through a layer of gas hydrate deposits. This would have coincided with drops in sea level of about 328 feet during Ice Ages and subsequent warming of sea temperatures.

“The apparent absence of methane in the shallow sediment and water column at the giant pockmark area was a surprise,” said Dr Ingo Klaucke from GEOMAR and Dr Richard Coffin from the US Naval Research Laboratory.

“While there was no sign of active gas systems in the larger pockmarks, the smaller ones in shallower water appeared to have been sporadically active,” said gas hydrate scientist Dr Ingo Pecher from the University of Auckland. “Gas escape could be occurring from the smaller pockmarks during glacial intervals every 20,000 or 100,000 years.”

“Methane is a potent greenhouse gas and the escape of big volumes would have significant implications for climate change and ocean acidification,” he concluded.

Huge sink hole forces closure of road for 'several weeks'

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/huge-sink-hole-forces-closure-...

This photo shows the hug sinkhole that has opened up in a road in Southport, Merseyside, forcing it closure for "several weeks".

The crevasse formed after a sewer collapsed at the junction of the A565 (Cambridge Road) and the A5267 (Preston New Road) in Churchtown.

The hole is which is 15ft by 10ft, reports the Liverpool Echo.

The sewer collapse caused delays for drivers heading through the village, and motorists commuting from Southport to Preston.

Engineers were on site all day today using tankers to pump water from the hole.

United Utilities spokesman John Martin said: “We’ve now managed to pump the majority of water away which was escaping from the collapsed sewer.

“This has allowed us to CCTV the sewer pipe which has confirmed the large hole in the road was a result of the sewer collapsing underneath.”

Massive Sinkholes Break Open As Dead Sea Shrivels

http://abcnews.go.com/International/massive-sinkholes-break-open-de...

There are more than 3,000 sinkholes on the banks of the Dead Sea -- and they're multiplying exponentially, according to environmentalists, as the body of water dries up.

"It's nature's revenge," said Gidon Bromberg, the Israeli Director at EcoPeace Middle East, an organization that brings together Jordanian, Palestinian and Israeli environmentalists to protect their shared environmental heritage.

"These sinkholes are a direct result of the inappropriate mismanagement of water resources in the region."

More than 1,400 feet below sea level, the Dead Sea is the lowest point on land. The first sinkhole was spotted in the 1980s. By 1990, there were 40, and 15 years later new chasms are breaking open every day.

"They could develop overnight. Or over time," Bromberg said. "Making them unpredictable. And very dangerous."

Sinkhole closes Harrisburg street

http://fox43.com/2015/03/17/sinkhole-closes-harrisburg-street/

The 300 block of N. 15th Street near Swatara Street in Harrisburg is closed to traffic due to a sinkhole. Emergency crews were called to the scene at about 4 pm.

The sinkhole was apparently caused by a broken water main. Capital Regional Water Company crews had the main repaired by 8 pm. Because the line needed to be flushed 28 customers along the street were advised to boil their water before use.

Gigantic sinkhole appears in Pietermaritzburg

http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/Gigantic-sinkhole-appears-on...

A massive sinkhole over two metres deep and three metres wide appeared on the N3 highway in Pietermaritzburg on Thursday, leading to the closure of one of the busy freeway's lanes.

The Durban-bound portion of the road near the Peter Brown offramp has been repaired numerous times, but it collapsed when a bus travelling over the sunken area collided with a truck in the early hours of Thursday.
WBHO engineer Jacques Grobler, who has been contracted to repair the sinkhole, said he was hoping to fix the portion of road before the Easter weekend.

“We had a machine on site this morning to start excavating the bottom of the sinkhole and to investigate the problem.”

He said once they identified the cause of the collapse, they would build up the hole layer by layer and “try to repair it before the Easter weekend”.

Road Traffic Inspectorate spokesperson Zinhle Mngomezulu said the hole was 2.4 metres deep and would easily swallow the nose end of a car.

Binmen on morning rounds forced to abandon lorry after eight foot wide sinkhole threatens to swallow vehicle

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/binmen-morning-rounds-forced-a...

Binmen on their morning collection were forced to abandon their lorry as it faced being swallowed by the road when a sink hole opened beneath it.

The truck teetered on the edge of the massive hole that is thought to have emerged because of a fresh water leak.

Council contractors were acting to remove the massive green truck before it fell through the road.
The hole opened while binmen did their rounds in Sidcup, south east London, this morning.

Witness Elaine Roles tweeted: "The hole is growing by the minute and the lorry is sinking!"

Two rescue trucks were on the scene to try and determine how to free the lorry, before it fell into the massive hole in the earth.

Video of bus being swallowed, then spit out by sinkhole in Brazil (Mar 23)

A day exploring the countryside took a nightmarish turn for tourists in Brazil.

On Monday, onlookers watched in horror as a massive sinkhole swallowed a tour bus and then spit it back out.

The bus was carried away by rushing flood waters.

Thankfully all passengers were able to safely exit the vehicle before it fell into the giant pit.

The accident occurred in the northern Para state on a highway near the cities of Itaituba and Ruropolis.

Source

http://www.theweathernetwork.com/news/articles/watch-bus-get-swallo...

Work Continues to Repair Sinkhole on Sargeant Street in Holyoke

http://www.wggb.com/2015/03/26/work-continues-to-repair-sinkhole-on...

HOLYOKE, Mass. (WGGB) — An update tonight on that huge sinkhole that opened up in Holyoke Wednesday afternoon.

The repairs – expected to take a day or two – will now last well into next week, and the street closures have expanded as well.

The good news is the sinkhole you see behind me here on Sargeant Street has been stabilized – meaning it’s not growing any larger.
However, the bad news is the project to repair it has grown much larger and now not only is this block of Sargeant closed to traffic, but so is one lane of High Street.

Thames Water and Sevenoaks District Council investigate sink hole which opened up in Oliver Road, Swanley

http://www.thisislocallondon.co.uk/news/11875916.ANOTHER_sinkhole_o...

A pensioner has been left "crying herself to sleep" after a sinkhole opened up across her Swanley garden, swallowing her mobility scooter.

The massive void, north Kent's fifth in a year, appeared in Oliver Road in the early hours of Thursday morning, measuring five or six metres in diameter and around three metres deep.

Two sheds fell into the hole, one of which contained, among other things, a mobility scooter - the only means of independence for 65-year-old Carole Kent, who is disabled.

The root of the problem is thought to be a leaking drainage pipe, which resulted in water saturating the ground, causing it to give way.

Despite seeking help from Sevenoaks District Council, Thames Water and the Environment Agency, Mrs Kent and her elderly neighbours, 78-year-old Joseph Hutchens and wife Barbara, 75, have not been able to get the assistance they need.

Toronto sinkhole swallows Jaguar

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/toronto-sinkhole-swallows-jag...

A Toronto driver was forced to escape through a car window after his Jaguar was partially swallowed by a sinkhole early Wednesday. 

Mario Tavares told CBC News he pulled into the parking lot of a building he owns near the intersection of Todd Bayliss Boulevard and Industry Street near Black Creek Drive and Eglinton Avenue West.

Tavares said shortly after pulling into the parking lot, the pavement gave way beneath his car, which sank in the soft dirt up to its windows. The door wouldn't open, forcing him to escape through the car window and onto the hood.

"I tried the door, the door wouldn't open so I rolled down the window and went out through the window," he said.

No one was hurt in the incident.

Sinkhole closes road in Durban, South Africa

http://citizen.co.za/356165/sinkhole-closes-durban-road/

A large sinkhole appeared in Essenwood and St Thomas roads in Durban late on Thursday afternoon, forcing authorities to close the roads.
Durban Rescue Care operations director Garrith Jamieson said paramedics were called to a “road collapse” on Thursday.
“Previously paramedics have attended to the same intersection for the same incident where a vehicle actually fell into the hole,” said Jamieson.“Fortunately this time no vehicle was involved. The road was quickly cordoned off and all the necessary authorities are on the scene to try and fix the situation.”

This after residents of Baltimore in the US state of Maryland shared videos and photos on social media as vehicles vanished one by one into a giant sinkhole that swallowed an entire street in the city last year.
The large crater swallowed several parked cars and buried train tracks under a pile of dirt.

http://news.discovery.com/earth/oceans/puzzling-sinkholes-are-openi...

Puzzling Sinkholes Are Opening Up Along the Dead Sea in Israel

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/peoplesdaily/article-3031831/Gatewa...

Gateway to hell? Chinese villagers horrified to find mysterious 3ft-wide hole spewing fire from local hillside

• Locals had noticed the ground in the area was warmer than usual
• Experts can't get close enough to determine how deep the hole is
• Temperature measured at 792C from two metres away
• Thought to be caused by a coal seam spontaneously combusting 

A mysterious sinkhole spewing fire and incredible heat has appeared in a Chinese hillside.

Geologists and media have flocked to the desolate mountain on the outskirts of Urumqi, in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in north-western China, since it appeared a few weeks ago.

The hole appeared recently after locals noticed the ground nearby getting warmer

The heat blasting from the 'ring of fire' has been measured at 792C (1457F) from two metres away, reports People's Daily Online, and is so intense that experts can't get close enough to determine how deep the hole is.

Video footage of the 3ft-wide hole shows locals igniting branches and grass by pushing it to the rim.

Some Chinese internet users have branded it a 'gateway to hell' after viewing the pictures.

Gateway to hell! Hot sink hole opens up scaring locals in China

Experts can't get close enough to determine how deep the mysterious hole is

Locals told Chinese media that they had noticed the ground in the area had been warm underfoot for some time.

The hill is not in a volcanic area, and experts from Xinjiang Meitian Geological Bureau think the hole is caused by the layer of spontaneously combusted coal underneath the ground, which leads the surface layer to collapse.

‘The phenomenon has existed in the area for a few decades,’ Huang Wei, an engineer from the bureau told China Central TV Station.

He added that smoke often comes from under the ground on this hill in the spring and autumn. 

Chen Long, a supervisor from Xinjiang Meitian Fire Engineering Bureau, said there used to be more than a dozen of small coal mines in the area in the 1970s.

‘Primitive mining and extinguishing techniques caused coal to burn deep under the ground,’ said Mr Chen in the same interview. 

‘Operators didn’t seal the mines properly after business discontinued and this leads the underground fire to burn towards the surface of the earth.’

The local authorities have started drawing plans to put out the underground fire. 

Giant rabbit hole? Secret tunnel? Family finds deep 'hidden' hole in garden

This is not a rabbit hole or a tunnel leading to secret treasure, as Steven Kempster’s children had hoped.

But it is a six-foot deep hole that had previously been undiscovered in the communal gardens at flats in Leavesden. (Hertfordshire UK)

Mr Kempster’s daughter Ellie was playing in the garden on Good Friday when he noticed the ground she was jumping on was moving beneath her.

The 37-year-old ushered Ellie out of the way and bounced on the patch himself before the ground gave way, leaving his foot dangling through a gap above the hole.

Mr Kempster said: "It’s the same size as a house so I’m very relieved and feel fortunate that none of the children fell through it.

"I got the kids away and I called a neighbour out to cordon it off but my first reaction was ‘that could have been my little girl’.

"I was more scared for them - had they fallen down there, not only would we need the fire brigade to get them out as it is so deep but the children could have been seriously injured.

"It’s quite frightening thinking about what could have happened and not knowing how long it has been there. Everyone is shocked."

Mr Kempster said flat owners and tenants were now concerned about whether any other holes would be discovered in the area.

Read more:  http://www.watfordobserver.co.uk/news/12880744.Giant_rabbit_hole__S...  

New giant crater appears in Siberia

20 April 2015

Subsidence from old coal mine a possible cause of latest mystery hole.

The latest crater to appear in Siberia measures around 20 metres in diameter and around 25-to-30 metres in depth. Its sudden appearance in recent days close to Novokuznetsk region is around 3,500 kilometres from other craters found in Arctic Russia in recent months.

Initial theories suggest mining subsidence caused the collapse, but locals remain concerned about methane gas in the disused shafts. They have been told to avoid fires amid concern over methane leaks.

The hole was spotted by Rinat Sharifullin, whose house is 100 metres away. He immediately called to the Emergency Ministry. The gaping crevice was fenced and specialists have now filled it using soil from an adjacent hill.

Despite this, the crater is causing concern among locals.

Rinat's wife Natalia said: 'We need to move from here. Under our garden are mines, too, and the site nearby was once the entrance to a mine. In the 1990s it was closed and the ground was filled in.'

There has been no comment from the Emergencies Ministry or the regional government on the cause of the hole.

Apparently, another smaller hole is nearby which was filled with water.

Other holes have received worldwide attention after appearing in the Yamal region of northern Siberia, with another in a remote location in Krasnoyarsk region, near the Taimyr peninsula.

In February, The Siberian Times revealed the existence of four new mysterious 'giant craters', and many smaller ones, in these areas, sparking fears over a looming natural disaster in the Arctic. Their cause is seen as methane released from melting permafrost but this is not yet confirmed by scientists.

Observation from space revealed the dramatic mushrooming of the holes, believed to be caused by methane gas eruptions in melting permafrost due to climate change, scientists revealed today. A leading Russian expert sounded an alert over safety because one new Siberian crater, surrounded by at least 20 'baby holes', is just six miles from a major gas production plant.

He predicts up to 30 more are waiting to be discovered. Scientsts are still baffled by the exact processes causing the craters and respected Moscow expert Professor Vasily Bogoyavlensky today called for 'urgent' investigation of the new phenomenon amid safety fears.

Source

FDNY ‘rescues’ fire truck stuck in 15ft deep sinkhole

http://nypost.com/2015/04/22/fdny-rescues-fire-truck-stuck-in-sinkh...

A fire engine had to be rescued in Brooklyn on Tuesday.

The stuck truck was parked on the street outside Brookdale Hospital in East Flatbush when a 15-foot-deep sinkhole opened up and swallowed its front right wheel around noon.
About a dozen firefighters stacked pieces of wood near the tire of the Engine Co. 257 truck to keep it from sinking deeper into Rockaway Parkway.
But one of the planks then sprang out and hit two of the emergency responders.
Both were hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries. Puzzlingly, they were taken to Kings County Hospital instead of being treated at Brook­dale. Authorities could not immediately explain why.
FDNY Chief Stephen Moro of Division 15 said it’s unclear what caused the sinkhole. “This is an odd one,” Moro said.
A few hospital workers who witnessed the incident said it was frightening.
“It’s scary because they just [repaved] this street after putting in new pipes,” said Paulie Johnson, who works in the security office at Brookdale’s Urgent Care Center. “It looks good from the surface, but we don’t know what’s underneath.”
Another hospital worker, Alicia Headley, noted, “It’s a very deep hole, and it could’ve been anyone stuck there.’’

RESIDENTS ORDERED TO EVACUATE AS COLLAPSING YARD THREATENS HOMES IN NJ

http://6abc.com/news/nj-home-at-risk-of-slipping-into-massive-hole/...

FLORENCE, N.J. (WPVI) -- A steep ravine is threatening to swallow two homes in Florence, Burlington County that overlook the Delaware River.

This morning engineers determined that the situation is too dangerous, and they are now asking the homeowners near the collapse site to evacuate their properties.

Geotechnical engineers from a private consulting company visited the scene on the 400 block of E. Front Street today to examine the eroding hillside that's been collapsing over the last two years, and which is now threatening two homes.

Chris and Lynne O'Dell live in one of the two homes.

Chris says, "It's finally coming to a head. So, we're almost looking forward to a decision because at least then we can move forward with a plan."

Monday's torrential rains eroded the hill further, exposing an abandoned storm sewer drain pipe that was spewing water, and may be the cause of the dramatic collapse of the hillside.

Mother and child disappear as hole opens up without warning outside London cafe

http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/572340/Mother-child-disappear-hole...

EMERGENCY services raced to a London cafe after a mother and her a child in a pram disappeared into a hole which opened up beneath them without warning.

Eye witnesses reported hearing a loud scream before the woman, who has not been identified, simply disappeared down the gap in the pavement outside a cafe on North End Road in Fulham, south west London.

Town centre brought to a standstill after 15-foot sinkhole opens up in street - almost swallowing up cars 

A busy town centre was brought to a standstill this afternoon after a mysterious 15-foot sinkhole opened up in the road without warning - almost swallowing a number of cars in the process.  

Motorists had to swerve out of the way of the giant hole after it appeared on the residential Earl Street in Northampton UK at around 2pm, just hours after part of a London pavement collapsed, swallowing a pedestrian.

Shocking pictures show the gaping chasm - which was around eight foot (2.4 metres) wide - with a section of surrounding road also looking on the verge of collapse. 

Eyewitness Matthew Green, 24, was in the pub when he heard a loud bang.

He said: 'I was just having a drink with my mate when there was this loud crashing noise.

'I thought there had been an accident but when I went outside, I saw the road had collapsed.

'The hole is massive. It must nearly cover half of the width of the whole road.

'It is incredible. It is like something you would see in a disaster movie.'

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3052741/Northampton-sinkhol... 

http://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/2015/04/27/man-dies-truck-d...

Panola County man dies after truck drives into pothole

Gigantic 100-metre sinkhole leaves Ukrainian villagers terrified after reports it has swallowed up homes and looks likely to get even BIGGER
29 April 2015

Swallowed up: This huge sinkhole measuring around 100m wide by 60m deep has appeared in the village of Solotvino in the Zakarpatska Oblast region of western Ukraine

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3060882/Gigantic-100-metre-...

Outbreak of sinkholes this weekend near the diagonal stress being asserted across the U.S.

Sinkholes Across El Paso County Colorado (May 10)

Multiple sinkholes are popping up across El Paso County, posing a threat to motorists.

Authorities were forced to close off the right lane of southbound Centennial, just south of Garden of the Gods Road after a 10-foot deep sinkhole was found.

Another large sinkhole was reported in the area of Academy and Montebello Sunday afternoon.

Drivers are urged to use caution as these sinkholes are likely to continue to pop-up across the Springs.

No word on how long it will take crews to repair the sinkholes.

Source

http://fox21news.com/2015/05/10/sinkhole-closes-portion-of-busy-roa...

Recurring Sinkhole Traps Residents In McLoud, Oklahoma (May 10)

Dozens of families were stuck at home over the weekend because a sinkhole separated their road in two.

On Southeast 121st Street in McLoud, after the first washout earlier in the week, residents on the private road tried to fill the sinkhole with gravel. But only a fraction of the gravel remained on Sunday because Saturday's rain washed it out again.

The 13 by 12 foot sink hole was a sight to see and it stopped more than 20 families from doing what they need to do. They were basically stranded.

And as if being basically stranded wasn't enough, Robert Henson lives just on the other side of the sinkhole and his house was flooded with eight inches of rain.

“We rolled towels up, blocked the doors best we could. I went out of the house through a window,” Henson explained.

And now with no way to haul in any help, he's between a rock and a hard place.

“I have people offering to help but, have them come down here and stand on one side of the road and not be able to get across, it does no good,” Henson said.

Roughly 22 families live on Southeast 121st and the sinkhole is putting a strain on all of them.

“I just came down this morning just to see how bad it was,” said homeowner Stan Byers.

Sunday it was deeper than it was the first time water plowed through it earlier in the week. Residents said it's going to need a new culvert and several truckloads of material to fill it back up. And since it's a private road, these residents said it's up to them to find the resources to repair it.

Some people were able to cross when the sinkhole was filled for a brief hour before being washed out again. They parked their vehicles on the other side and are able to leave. But the others will likely be stuck for several days until the road committee can get crews there to fix it.

Residents are able to walk across a portion of the road there, which is critical in the case of an emergency.

Source

http://www.news9.com/story/29026102/sinkhole-traps-residents-in-mcloud

Large Sinkhole in Granbury Texas (May 10)

The dramatic scene unfolding in front of the Brookshire's supermarket in Granbury on Sunday is evidence of the power of water.

A large chunk of the parking lot along Morgan Street was washed away by flooding, leaving a deep, gaping hole in the pavement estimated at 40 feet across.

By Sunday afternoon, the Granbury City Council convened an emergency meeting at the site of the sinkhole/landslide to discuss the damage here and elsewhere.

Council member Rose Myers showed up with pizza for workers who had been at the scene through the night.

Source

http://www.wfaa.com/story/news/local/2015/05/10/large-sinkhole-in-g...

Large Sinkhole in Norman Oklahoma (May 9)

The Norman Street Department closed Indian Hills Road at 36th Avenue NE and three other major roadways to ensure public safety.

“You don't want to crawl through, on, under or around. Just avoid them,” said Norman Street Department Superintendent Greg Hall.

And Hall also asked residents to be patient. Crews are working non-stop to temporarily repair every major and minor washout caused by recent flash flooding.

Source

http://www.news9.com/story/29023199/drivers-near-norman-sink-hole-d...

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/sinkhole-opens-up-on...

A large sinkhole has opened up in Burnaby near the 4800 block of Albert Street on Monday evening. (CBC)

A large sinkhole has opened up in Burnaby near the 4800 block of Albert Street on Monday evening. 

Metro Vancouver crews estimate the sinkhole is 16 feet long, six feet wide and three to four feet deep. 

An investigation is underway into what caused the road to collapse, says Metro Vancouver spokesman Don Bradley. 

Albert Street is closed for one block between Gamma and Delta Avenues. A security crew will watch over the sinkhole overnight and cleanup crews will be back Tuesday morning. 

http://english.sina.com/china/p/2015/0511/809940.html

Sunset residents frustrated by recurring sinkhole

http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Sunset-residents-frustrated-b...

When Mike Wong noticed a depression in the street in front of his Sunset District home, he did what concerned citizens are supposed to do: He called 311 and reported the problem.
A city crew showed up bright and early the next morning and patched the 2-foot-wide chasm, and Wong thought everything was fine.
By 3 p.m., however, the asphalt patch had sunk 6 inches — and by nightfall the thing had completely opened up, forcing the fire department to come out to cordon off the area.
This was far from the first accordion act of open-patch-open for the sinkhole on the 900 block of Quintara Street between 18th and 19th avenues.

The city has repaired the same sinkhole five times since August and three times in April alone, said Rachel Gordon, a Department of Public Works spokeswoman.
Wong, a 45-year-old product developer who has lived on the block for 17 years, was happy the city responded so quickly, but the amount of time and energy that has gone into fixing what he sees as a simple hole is less than encouraging.
“I know it’s hard to get things done in this system and they are trying to get big things done,” he said. “But I’m afraid to know what’s bigger than a gaping hole in the street.”
It turns out the underlying problem lies under the street, as the city faces the daunting task of replacing its aging infrastructure.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/burnaby-sinkhole-on-...

A sinkhole that appear on Albert Street in Burnaby, B.C. on Monday appears to have expanded overnight. (Mike McArthur/CBC)

A large sinkhole that opened up in Burnaby, B.C., near the 4800 block of Albert Street on Monday has grown larger overnight according to worried residents.

Albert Street was closed between Gamma and Delta Avenues after the sinkhole was discovered, but on Tuesday morning residents said more of the road had collapsed overnight.

On Monday evening officials estimated the sinkhole was five metres long, two metres wide and more than a metre deep. 

But Metro Vancouver spokesperson Marilyn Towill said while the road continues to settle, there is no more water coming down and the problem is not getting worse.

"There was quite a bit of gravel that washed out from underneath the asphalt road surface last night when the water was running down. Once that gravel is gone, then the asphalt will settle over time," she said.

"From what we have found so far, it is contained to the utility structure, and we have no concerns it going to threaten people's homes," she said.

The investigation into the exact cause is still underway, but it looks like the sinkhole was caused by the water utilities in the neighbourhood.

"The water came from a chamber up the hill. Looks like it undermined the road, ran along where some previous utility pipes had been running along the road, and has basically washed out the road base, and that's why we see some settlement," said Towill.

Crews will excavate the hole and rebuild the gravel base to repair the road, she said.

Depression Collapses Into Large Sinkhole at Cimarron, Saratoga

http://www.kiiitv.com/story/29046975/depression-collapses-into-larg...

CORPUS CHRISTI (Kiii News) -
It was not too long ago when the City of Corpus Christi blocked off a depression in the road on Cimarron near Saratoga for fear of it becoming a sinkhole. Because of Tuesday mornings heavy rains, that's exactly what happened.

Seismic activity caused sink hole, water leak in Hollister, city says

HOLLISTER, Calif. —A water main leak in Hollister flowed under one man's house and caused a sink hole that swallowed part of his car.

"Saturday afternoon I went in the backyard and I (saw) water coming out of my basement door," homeowner Edward Perreira said. 

Perreira said he has lived at his home on South Street for more than 40 years and he never dreamed he'd see this.

"I've seen sink holes in Florida and other places, but not here. And I have to be the lucky one," he said.

A small river of water flowed for three days under Perreira's home, causing it to lose its foundation. His car was parked in a concrete driveway when its rear tire was swallowed by a 4-foot wide sink hole.

City crews dug into the street Wednesday, found the origin of the problem and shut off the leak. 

"This particular location the pipe crossed the fault, so yes wherever pipes cross the fault, this could happen," said Hollister Management Services Director Mike Chambless.

Chambless called it the Hollister geologic-creep phenomenon. A fault line running through the city and as the plates slowly shift, the pipe just snaps. Chambless said not many pipes run across the fault line, but the sewer line does.

"We're going to inspect the sewer lines to make sure that there's no problems there," Chambless said.

Chambliss said a second leak sprung up Wednesday night nearby along the same pipeline. That leak was quickly plugged up. 

City engineers determined that the leaks and sinkhole were being caused by seismic activity in the Earth's crust. The pipe runs directly above the San Andreas Fault. 

The San Andreas Fault is a strike-slip fault where the North American and Pacific tectonic plates sometimes touch and create earthquakes. 

City representatives said they will foot the water bill, which they estimate being thousands of dollars.

As for Perreira's driveway, Chambless said it's too early to say. The road in front of his house will be closed as crews work tomorrow and next week to repave the street.

Source: http://www.ksbw.com/news/water-leaks-into-hollister-home/33004170

London City Airport delays: 'Hole' in the runway wreaks havoc to morning flights

http://www.standard.co.uk/news/transport/city-airport-delays-hole-i...

Flights were halted at London City Airport this morning by a "hole" which opened up in the runway.

http://www.pga.com/news/golf-buzz/incredible-image-sinkhole-branson...

Incredible image of sinkhole at Branson, Missouri golf resort

Giant Sinkholes Continue to Grow and Multiply in Russian City (May 22)

The latest mysterious sinkhole that has appeared in a Urals city has grown in size four-fold in just three months, officials have said.

First spotted on February 17 during routine observations around crater-hit Berezniki, in Perm Krai, it was found to be just five metres in diameter. The fifth hole to have been found in the town in a decade, it was later measured at 7.5metres.

'At the moment the size of the hole is estimated at about 22 metres,' said Andrey Rodionov. 'It has extended due to the sliding of its walls but it is unlikely to have become any deeper, and is still nine metres deep.'

With a population of about 155,000 people, Berezniki is the second largest city in the Perm region.

There are now five holes around the city, with fears this will only grow. Residents living close to the craters have been moved away from the danger zone, but the threat remains.

The original sinkhole, locally called The Grandfather was initially 80metres long and 40metres wide, but has swelled to a much bigger size.

The building of a school, near the fifth hole, has been abandoned and the school moved to another location.

Source

http://siberiantimes.com/other/others/news/n0227-sinkhole-gets-bigg...

http://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/Sinkhole-Reported-at-Dallas-Fort-W...

Sinkhole Reported at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport

Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport says a sinkhole was discovered near one of the runways in a safety area. Runway 18L is closed until repairs are complete. (Published Tuesday, May 26, 2015)

Runway 18L is back open at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport after a sinkhole was discovered nearby Tuesday morning, airport officials said.

The sinkhole developed in a grassy area about 250 feet between a taxiway and runway 18L after a section of a storm drain became dislodged from the main storm drain line, creating erosion of the soil around the drain, D/FW Airport Spokesman David Magaña said.

The opening was approximately 25-feet by 25-feet, however the exact depth was unknown.

Airfield inspectors found the sinkhole in what's called the safety area, according to Magaña.

Engineers determined the integrity of the runway remains intact, and the runway was not affected by the soil erosion, Magaña said.

The runway was back open by about 6 p.m. Tuesday.

Closure of the runway, one of the four longest at the airport, was having minimal impact on the airport, as the remaining six runways were operational.

Construction crews will begin making repairs on the storm drain Wednesday, but Magaña said the runway would not need to be closed during the repair work.

D/FW Airport reports it's the third busiest airport in the world for air traffic operations and sees approximately 174,000 passengers per day making it ninth in the world for passenger traffic.

Crews in Wagoner County to rescus families stranded by sinkhole

http://www.fox23.com/news/news/local/crews-wagoner-county-rescue-fa...

There is a sinkhole in Wagoner County on Front Street.
About a dozen homes are on the other side.
Wagoner County Emergency Management is working to rescue families.
Wagoner County Emergency Management told FOX23 that they are working to rescue families stuck because of a giant sinkhole on Front Street near 11th and the Creek Turnpike.
They are bringing a crane to help make the road passable for families stuck on the other side.
There are about 12 homes on the other side of the hole. There are no other roads out.
They are bringing in emergency vehicles to further assess the situation.
There are no reports of injuries right now.