The recent discovery of a third hole in Siberia has puzzled many scientists, excited conspiracy theorists, and ordinary people made me look at the stability of the earth under our feet in a new way. The surface of the Earth is riddled with holes: some under water, some on the ground, and some generally look like doors to the other world.
Just recently, three strange holes were found in Siberia. The first, 50-100 meters in diameter, was discovered at the bottom of the lake. The second hole, a few kilometers from the first, was only 15 meters wide. The third hole, accidentally found by the reindeer herders, turned out to be an almost perfect cone-shaped hole about 4 meters wide and 60-100 meters deep.
The ring of debris and dirt around each hole indicates that the massive holes were made by forces that came from within the Earth and burst forth. Of course, interesting theories were born. Some believe that the appearance of the holes is associated with gas development in this region, but the holes are so far from the gas pipelines that scientists have rejected the idea. Other theories include stray missiles, pranksters and, of course, extraterrestrial invasion.
The real reason may be more mundane, but no less strange. One working theory about the holes is that they are a kind of reverse funnel. In this case, the holes were caused by underground destruction caused by thawing permafrost. They then filled with natural gas, and when the pressure became too great, dirt and debris burst into the air instead of falling underground.
According to local residents, the holes are far from new, and scientists, in principle, admit this possibility, looking at the vegetation around them - they could have been there for several years. The second hole discovered is lovingly referred to as the "end of the world" and was allegedly observed by local residents back in September 2013. Witness accounts vary: some say they saw something falling from the sky, others say there was an explosion on the ground.
Kola superdeep well
Not all holes in earth's crust formed for natural or unknown reasons. From 1970 to 1994, Russian geologists dug the biggest hole on Earth imaginable in the name of science. The result was the Kola superdeep well, which eventually reached a depth of 12 kilometers.
Along the way, scientists discovered a number of interesting things. Digging a tunnel through stone is like digging through history. Scientists have found the remains of life that existed on the surface two billion years ago. At an impressive depth of 6,700 meters, biologists discovered tiny plankton fossils. While it was expected that many different types of rock would be found on the way down, it is incredible how the fragile organic matter was preserved under enormous pressure for thousands of years.
Drilling through untouched rock proved difficult. Stone samples pulled out from an area of high pressure and temperature became deformed after being exposed to the outside. The pressure and temperature also rose much higher than expected. By the time it reached 10,000 meters, the temperature had soared to 180 degrees Celsius.
Unfortunately, drilling stopped when it became impossible to combat the heat. The hole is still there, near the town of Zapolyarny, but covered with a metal cover.
The German continental deep drilling program and the pulse of the Earth
In 1994, drilling of a German ultra-deep well, originally conceived as one of the most ambitious geophysical projects, was stopped. The goal of the project is to allow scientists to study effects such as the effects of pressure on rocks, the presence of anomalies in the Earth's crust, the structure of the crust and how it was subjected to heat and pressure. The $350 million project left Windischeschenbach with a hole 9,100 meters deep and a temperature of 265 degrees Celsius.
Among the various scientific experiments, there was one unusual one: the Dutch artist Lotte Geeven wanted to know what the planet sounds like. Although scientists told her that the planet was silent, Geeven insisted on her own. She lowered the geophone into the hole to record ultrasonic waves beyond the hearing capabilities of the human ear. After converting the data on the computer into frequencies that can be heard, Lotte heard the sounds of the Earth. It was like the sound of a thunderstorm in the distance, like a terrifying heartbeat.
Dead Sea sinkholes
No one knows exactly how many holes appeared around Dead Sea, but it is believed that about 2,500 have appeared since 1970, and about 1,000 in the last 15 years alone. Like the holes in Siberia, these holes are signs of environmental change.
The Dead Sea is fed by the Jordan River, and every year less and less water flows into it. The sea itself is now three times smaller than it was in the 1960s, and the drainage of the reservoir has caused sinkholes, along with the demise of the resorts and hotels that once flourished along the shores. When the salt water of the sea seeps through the earth, it is greeted by fresh water. When this fresh water penetrates into the soil with high salt content, most of salt dissolves. The earth weakens and begins to collapse.
The Dead Sea has always been in a state of change. It once connected with the Sea of Galilee, but this connection dried up about 18 thousand years ago. Nowadays, change is more often driven by people's actions. Water that once flowed into the sea in a state of delicate equilibrium is now being diverted throughout Jordan and Syria, with the sea receiving only 10 percent of the water it needs to sustain it.
At one time, this sea was a very popular place for those who made religious pilgrimages or wanted to be healed in the mystical waters of the sea. Now you can more often see signs warning about the danger of spontaneously occurring sinkholes. But on the bright side, if you get swallowed by a sinkhole, it will be named after you.
The deepest blue hole (as holes located underwater are called) is Dean's Blue Hole in the Bahamas. At 202 meters deep, this blue hole is almost twice as deep as other blue holes, making it a favorite spot for professional divers.
In 2010, William Trubridge set a record for diving 101 meters into the hole without external oxygen or other equipment. A Brooklyn diver died trying to break this record in 2013 after being underwater for more than three and a half minutes, surfacing and then losing consciousness. Every year more than 30 divers meet at this blue hole to participate in various kinds competitions as part of the Vertical Blue event.
Although the hole attracts adventurers from all over the world, those who live near Dean's Blue Hole try to stay away from it. According to legend, this hole was dug by the devil, and he is still there, snatching people who dare to dive.
Randomly appearing holes in Mount Baldy
In 2013, a six-year-old boy was exploring the sand dunes of Mount Baldy in national park Indiana Dunes and was swallowed by a sinkhole that suddenly appeared underneath him. The boy was rescued after a three-hour ordeal in which he was buried under three meters of sand. Since then, other sinkholes have appeared.
Geologists cannot explain the phenomena of Mount Baldy. Since the landscape is sand, which does not create air pockets, none of the conditions necessary for the formation of sinkholes are met. When a sinkhole appears, it fills with sand throughout the day. The use of underground radar did not reveal any evidence.
A year after the first sinkhole, they not only continued to appear, but began to appear with such frequency that the park was closed. In an attempt to stabilize sand dunes, experts have planted grasses in hopes that they will root system will stop erosion and land movement. Some scientists believe that the sand dunes' instability may have something to do with their storied history, which includes, among others, the story of supplying vast quantities of sand to create Mason jars.
The Devil's Sinkhole is a massive underground chamber located in Edwards, Texas. The 15 meter wide hole leads to a 106 meter deep cavern that now plays a unique ecological role, being home to one of the largest known colonies of Mexican free-tailed bats. Visitors, who of course cannot enter the cave, can see more than three million bats flying out of it every night during the summer months.
The Andros Black Hole, located on South Andros Island in the Bahamas, has a completely different color from other holes in the region. It is not completely black, but dark purple. The reason is that at a depth of 18 meters there is a thick, toxic layer of bacteria floating between the oxygenated top and the almost oxygen-free bottom of the funnel.
The island itself is inhospitable, mostly consisting of mud, so it is generally impossible to reach the black hole of Andros without a helicopter and special equipment. It was first explored by scientist and diver Steffi Schwabe. She was the first to cross the curdled ink layer of bacteria. At the bottom there was a layer of clear water and another purple layer that looked like jelly.
Strange layers of water have very high level toxic hydrogen sulfide. They also contain bacteria that not only thrive between water levels, but have maintained water conditions for the last 3.5 billion years.
Son Doong Cave
While technically a cave system, Shondong is also accessible through several large openings on the Earth's surface. It was first found in 2009 after one of the holes was discovered by a local farmer. The cave system was so thoroughly buried in the jungle that it was pure luck that anyone found it at all. When members of the British Caving Association entered the hole, they discovered something completely indescribable.
The cave was declared to be the largest in the world and was extremely difficult to explore. It appeared somewhere between two and five million years ago, carved into limestone by an underground river. In some places, erosion reached so close to the surface that parts of the cave roof collapsed, creating even more holes. These holes let in enough sunlight for the jungle to begin to grow in the cave. In addition, the cave has a 60-meter calcite wall, an underground river and waterfalls, as well as stalagmites and stalactites that have grown up to 80 meters in length.
This cave jungle is also home to an impressive array of wildlife, including poisonous centipedes and whitefish. Some large chambers can fit entire neighborhoods along with skyscrapers; Bamboo forests and giant pearls can be found there. The very fact that an entire lost world was discovered only in 2009 reminds us, the inhabitants of Earth, that the planet is far from being fully explored.
Based on materials from listverse.com
Since we already had it today, let’s continue it a little. Do you think what is in the photograph is real or drawn? Many of my friends already know the answer to this question, but I just came across this photo again and I once again decided to dot all the i’s and at the same time make a note about it in my blog.
Let's jump under the cut and answer all the questions...
Clickable 3880 px
Many on the Internet doubted that this was true. They tried to appeal to the very smooth edges of this hole, to the suspiciously regular circle, to the insufficiently regular transitions of the earth into the darkness of the depths, etc. But everything in the photographs was in reality.
A hole of almost perfect circular shape with a diameter of about 20 meters and 30 meters deep. It was formed in July 2010 in one of the districts of Guatemala City.
In the place where you see a huge crater, the bottom of which is not visible even from a helicopter, there once stood a three-story garment factory building.
The mysterious crater was cordoned off by police, and geologists were working on the site. Experts clearly cannot understand the cause of the funnel. It is worth noting that a little more than three years ago, literally two kilometers from this place, an almost similar “black hole” had already formed in the ground. However, one of the reasons could be tropical storm Agatha. Such floods and landslides have not been seen in this region for the last 60 years. The disaster destroyed roads and bridges, rivers overflowed their banks, and many areas were cut off from the outside world.
“I can tell you what was not the reason: it is not the fault of geology and it was not caused by an earthquake. This is all we know for now and we will be forced to go inside,” said a geophysical engineer from the National Management Agency in emergency situations David Monterroso.
Meanwhile, scientists agree that the round shape of the funnel suggests the presence of a karst cavity underneath. While geologists are puzzling over the reasons for the appearance of the “crater,” many local residents, whose houses are located in close proximity to the “black hole,” are already trying to change their homes.
It is not clear why there is no footage of the study of this funnel on the Internet, well, it wouldn’t be interesting for anyone to go down there with a camera. Or at least lower a camera with a spotlight on a cable and photograph what is there at depth.
This is the same hurricane that could have caused this crater to appear.
In seven days, residents of Guatemala and neighboring Honduras and El Salvador had to deal with a volcanic eruption spewing tons of ash, a powerful tropical storm, floods and landslides, and a terrifying black hole that swallowed a small factory and an intersection in Guatemala City. The Pacaya volcano began spewing lava and rocks on Thursday, May 27, blanketing Guatemala in ash that forced the closure of the airport. One television reporter, who was at that moment near the volcano, died. Two days later, as Guatemalans were cleaning up the ashes, Tropical Storm Agatha hit the region, bringing with it floods and landslides that washed away bridges, filled villages with mud and caused a giant hole to form in the center of Guatemala's capital.
A woman stands in the mud after a landslide caused by Hurricane Agatha in Amatitlán's El Pedregal district on May 31. On Monday, stunned Hurricane Agatha victims and rescue workers began finding bodies in the mud. Total according to the latest data in Central America 179 people died. (REUTERS/Daniel LeClair)
Lava flows from the Pacaya volcano, near the capital of Guatemala, on May 28. Pacaya began to erupt on Thursday, May 27, killing journalist Anibal Archila, who was reporting for local TV channel Noti7. (REUTERS/Daniel LeClair)
Cameraman Byron Sesaida gives his side of the story after he was rescued from the Pacaya volcano on May 27. Byron worked with journalist Anibal Archila, who died while filming a program about a volcanic eruption for the Noti7 television channel. (REUTERS/Daniel LeClair)
A man displays volcanic ash cleared from his car on May 27 in Villa Nueva, after a powerful eruption of the Pacaya volcano, 50 km south of Guatemala. (JOHAN ORDONEZ/AFP/Getty Images)
Villagers came out of their homes fearing further eruptions from the Pacaya volcano in Las Calderas, Guatemala. (JOHAN ORDONEZ/AFP/Getty Images)
Two men watch a huge wave on May 29 at the port of San Jose, 110 km south of Quatemala. The season's first tropical storm, named Agatha, hit the country, bringing with it heavy rainfall, causing landslides and flooding. (JOHAN ORDONEZ/AFP/Getty Images)
People climb onto a bridge after part of it was washed away following Hurricane Agatha in Barberene on May 30. (REUTERS/Daniel LeClair)
An Amatitlán resident and Asus employee dumps dirt he removed from his home after the Mico River overflowed its banks on June 1. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)
A woman crosses a road flooded with muddy water after the Mico River overflows its banks in Amatitlan on June 11. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)
People inspect a car destroyed by a landslide in the Palin region, Escuintla department, Guatemala. (JOHAN ORDONEZ/AFP/Getty Images)
Maria del Carmen de Ramirez watched as the crater was born. She was at home when the fatal downpour began - by the way, meteorologists claim that more than 30 centimeters of rain fell in 30 hours, and she barely managed to escape from her home. “I saw through the window how the garment factory next door had disappeared,” she says. “She just disappeared.” Maria del Carmen says it's a miracle that no factory workers were injured: working hours ended exactly an hour before the storm. And the watchman, who is usually on duty at night, took the day off to visit relatives. “During the day, hundreds of students came to the factory to get their uniforms,” she says. “If the rain had started a few hours earlier, it would have turned into a big tragedy.”
Residents of the surrounding houses are still afraid to return. Those who did not leave their homes live in constant fear that their house could end up at the bottom of a hole in an instant. “At night I wake up every ten minutes,” says one local resident. “I’m frightened by every rustle - it seems to me that it’s rain drumming on the roof.”
Experts were never able to determine the exact cause of the hole. Geologists say that the porous structure of the limestone - the main component of the soil in Ciudad Nueva - received rainwater year after year, gradually enlarging the holes. And the rain worked as a catalyst. The management of a local cement plant proposed mixing volcanic ash from the Pacaya volcano, which had erupted four days earlier, with cement and filling the crater with the resulting mass. Experts estimate that it will take 12 to 18 months to fill the well.
It should be noted that something similar has already happened in Guatemala. In February 2007, a similar failure arose in the same city, but 100 meters deep. The distance between the two failures is several kilometers. One can only imagine how the people living in this area of Guatemala feel.
By the way, that hole...
By the way, the Guatemalan sinkhole is far from the only one in the world. More than twenty years ago, a similar hole suddenly appeared in Winter Park in Florida - its depth exceeded 98 meters. In 1994, a huge well with smooth edges appeared in Mulberry, the same state of Florida, at the site of industrial waste dumping. In April of this year, ten craters appeared one after another in Chinese city Yongbin, Sichuan Province. The depth of the largest hole was 80 meters
There was room for creativity here for photoshoppers too!
Well, in general, if you are confused by an exactly round hole, then here are other similar, albeit not so huge, examples.
A beautiful crater on the highway near the capital of Venezuela, Caracas, December 1, 2010.
Outside the small town of Schmalkalden, in the German state of Thuringia, a huge crater suddenly formed. Local residents woke up in the middle of the night to the roar of car sirens. It turned out that a car had fallen into a hole 40 meters wide and 25 meters deep, and it was only by luck that no one was hurt.
Police and rescue services immediately arrived at the scene. who cordoned off a giant crater. Residents of nearby houses were urgently evacuated.
"Earth in literally opened up underfoot at about three o'clock in the morning. If this had happened during the day, it is unlikely that casualties would have been avoided. We have already announced that until the causes of the natural disaster are fully clarified, people will have to temporarily leave the city. Local authorities are ready to provide them with shelter,” the police said. Bild writes about this.
A helicopter was brought in to survey the area, which, with the help of detailed photography, will allow us to determine the real size of the crater. According to preliminary data, the collapse of the soil could have occurred due to the fact that intensive salt mining was once carried out here. Probably, groundwater gave impetus to the formation of a dangerous landslide.
In the city of Berezniki in 2007, a giant sinkhole formed on the territory of one of the enterprises: 15 meters deep and an area of two and a half thousand square meters. The ground collapse occurred in an industrial area where salt mines are located underground. In dangerous proximity there is a salt factory and a local thermal power plant. Just a kilometer away are residential buildings.
On November 25, 2003, in the center of Lisbon (Portugal), a parked bus suddenly began to go underground. The reason for this was a deep hole that formed in the roadway.
Another hole on the road in Changchun city in Jilin province, May 29, 2011. A truck went underground.
This hole in the Earth was formed in June 2010 in Hunan province, its dimensions are: diameter - 150 meters, depth - 50 meters. The reasons for its appearance are unclear.
On September 7, 2008, a large sinkhole (15 meters in diameter and 5 meters deep) appeared in the city of Guangzhou in Guangdong Province.
The creations of nature always fascinate, especially if they are objects of gigantic proportions. There are huge holes in the earth's crust of simply incredible size. However, their authorship does not always belong to nature; a large man-made hole can also cause a shock to others.
Quarry in Yakutia
Scientists cannot give an exact answer about the nature of the origin of most giant natural holes. The spectacle is as impressive as it is dangerous. The abyss can open up almost anywhere, swallowing up houses, cars, and people. Here are the most famous holes of various origins.
Yakutia has one of the largest quarries on the planet. Its dimensions are more than 0.5 km in depth and almost one and a half kilometers in diameter. The quarry was given a name - the Mir kimberlite pipe. It was opened in the 50s of the twentieth century and worked until 2001. All this time, kimberlite ore, which is rich in diamonds, was mined here using an open-pit method. Today, it is unprofitable to extract the remaining ore reserves using open-pit methods, so underground mines have been built. Large holes in the ground can be created by human hands.
Other man-made holes
The largest man-made quarry on the planet is the Kennecott Bingham Canyon Mine. It is located in Utah. In the quarry, mining is carried out in an open way. The width of the mine is almost 8 km, and the depth reaches four kilometers. The quarry was opened in 1863, mining continues today, so its size is constantly increasing.
In Canada, there is a quarry on the islands where diamonds are mined. It's called Diavik. All the necessary infrastructure, and even an airport, grew around it.
The largest quarry, which was created by man without the use of special equipment, is located in South Africa. The big hole was once a diamond mining site. The parameters of this mine along the perimeter are about 1.5 km, and in width - more than 460 meters. Now this mine is a means of attracting tourists to the city. The giant hole, called the Big Hole, amazes with its dimensions.
Local Attractions
There are Dam's in northern California. In the reservoir of the dam there is a funnel through which water is drained. The depth of the funnel is more than 21 meters, its upper part in diameter is 21 meters, and the lower part is 8.5 meters. Through such a giant drain they release from the reservoir excess water supply. A large hole can easily become a local landmark. People love to visit places that are terrifying in their scale.
In Guatemala, a huge formation was formed, provoked by heavy rains and rising groundwater levels. According to eyewitnesses, a few days before the formation of the crater, local residents heard a rumble from underground and felt shifts in the soil. As a result of the tragedy, people died and more than ten houses were destroyed.
The Great Blue Hole is located in Lighthouse Reef Atoll. In fact, this is a karst depression up to 120 meters deep and more than 300 meters across. The discoverer of this funnel was the famous scientist Jacques-Yves Cousteau. The nature of the formation of a blue hole has been scientifically explained. During the Ice Age, this relief looked like a system of limestone caves. Over time, when the sea level rose significantly, the caves were flooded, and its vaults, consisting of porous limestone, collapsed. The Blue Hole is one of the top ten places for scuba diving.
Holes of unknown origin
Holes in the ground appear both in desert areas and in areas that are densely populated by people. Unfortunately, the appearance of such faults often leads to tragic casualties. Here are some of these cases of holes appearing in the ground:
- In 2010, a huge round sinkhole appeared in Guatemala, destroying a garment factory. The reason for the appearance of such a fault was storm rains. Of course, the Great Blue Hole is larger in scale, but these formations also cause horror among the local population.
- In New Zealand, the abyss opened up to a depth of fifteen and a width of fifty meters. The house fell into the hole, along with the family in it. Miraculously, no casualties were avoided. The cause was the collapse
Funnels on the territory of the Middle Kingdom
In 2010, a large hole opened up right in the middle of a road in China. Due to soil shifts, the hospital was destroyed some time later.
In 2012, also in China, a hole appeared on the road, into which a large truck fell. The driver managed to avoid falling into the abyss due to the fact that the cabin remained on the surface, and only the trailer was hanging in the hole.
In 2013, a large hole up to 20 meters across appeared in a Chinese rice plantation in Huan Province. In less than six months, about twenty such sinkholes appeared in this area. It turned out that industrial activity in the area had disrupted the groundwater balance, which led to the formation of holes.
Huge holes in the ground can be a beautiful sight if found in the wild. Such places often become tourist attractions. But holes caused by human activity can be extremely dangerous. Therefore, when carrying out his industrial activities, a person must always think about the consequences to which it may lead.
At the end of July in the Nizhny Novgorod region, in the Shatkovsky district, near the village of Neledino, a huge karst sinkhole formed. The depth of the hole is 50 meters, and its diameter is 32 meters. Fortunately, the ground collapsed in the middle of the field, so no one was hurt.
The Neledino sinkhole, although impressive, is not the largest in the world. We tell you about other giant holes.
Karst sinkhole in Guatemala
One of the most famous and terrible holes on the planet, 150 meters deep and 20 meters in diameter, was formed in 2011 in the capital of Guatemala as a result of soil erosion by rain and groundwater. During the formation of the sinkhole, several people died, a dozen houses were destroyed, including an entire garment factory that collapsed into the pit. According to local residents, several months before the tragedy, soil movements were felt in this place, and a rumble was heard from underground.
Kimberlite pipe "Mir" (Mir diamond pipe)
One of the largest holes in the Earth is located in the city of Mirny in Yakutia.
The Mir kimberlite pipe is a quarry 525 meters deep and 1.2 kilometers in diameter. It is one of the world's largest diamond quarries.
Diavik Quarry
The youngest diamond quarry located on the island of Las de Gras, 220 kilometers south of the Arctic Circle, off the coast of Canada. Just because of its location, this hole is unique. In the future, they plan to deepen and expand the quarry.
Drain hole in Monticello Dam reservoir
A huge sinkhole in the ground, which is the largest spillway in the world, is located in Northern California, USA. Built 55 years ago, the drain looks like a giant concrete pipe. Its depth is 21 meters. The funnel has the shape of a cone. The diameter at the top reaches almost 22 meters, and at the bottom it narrows to 9 meters. It comes out 200 meters from the other side of the dam, removing excess water from the reservoir.
Kimberlite pipe "Mir" (Mir diamond pipe), Russia, Yakutia. 1200 meters outer diameter and 525 meters depth. Chronology of development: 06/13/1955 - the Mir kimberlite diamond pipe was discovered - geologists of the Amakinsk expedition Yu.I. Khabardin, E.N. Elagin and V.P. Avdeenko. 06. 1956 - a decision was made by the USSR MCM to begin commercial operation of the Mir tube. 04/30/2004 - the last ton of ore was mined. "Big Hole" kimberlite pipe, South Africa. The largest one dug by hand is 1097 meters deep. More than 22 million tons of rock were moved to the surface and 3 tons of diamonds were mined. Development was completed in 1914. From 1866 to 1914, approximately 50,000 miners dug the mine using picks and shovels, producing 2,722 tons of diamonds (14.5 million carats). During the development of the quarry, 22.5 million tons of soil were extracted. It was here that such famous diamonds as the De Beers diamond (428.5 carats), the bluish-white Porter Rhodes (150 carats), and the orange-yellow Tiffany diamond (128.5 carats) were found. Currently, this diamond deposit has been depleted. The area of the "Big Hole" is 17 hectares. Its diameter is 1.6 km. The hole was dug to a depth of 240 meters, but was then filled with waste rock to a depth of 215 meters, currently the bottom of the hole is filled with water, its depth is 40 meters. At the site of the mine there used to be (about 70 - 130 million years ago) a volcanic crater. Kennecott Bingham Canyon Mine, Utah. The largest active open-pit mine in the world, copper mining began in 1863 and is still ongoing. About a kilometer deep and three and a half kilometers wide Diavik Quarry surrounded by waters, Canada. Diamonds are mined here. The quarry is located on the islands and has its own infrastructure with an airport capable of receiving passenger Boeings. Great Blue Hole, Belize. Width 400 meters, depth about 145 - 160 meters. A favorite place for professional divers from all over the world. The details of the origin of this hole are not fully understood. The drainage hole in the reservoir of the Monticello Dam's dam, in northern California. This pipe is capable of passing through 1370 cubic meters of water per second. Depth 21 meters. It has the shape of a cone, the diameter of which at the top is 21.6 meters, and narrows to 8 at the bottom .4 meters. Serves to discharge excess water in the reservoir reservoir. 
Karst sinkhole in Guatemala. A giant funnel with a depth of 150 and a diameter of 20 meters. Caused by groundwater and rain. During the formation of the sinkhole, several people died and a dozen houses were destroyed. According to local residents, from about the beginning of February, soil movements were felt in the area of the future tragedy, and a muffled rumble was heard from underground.