MASSIVE SINKHOLE IN CHINA SWALLOWS BUILDING – VIDEO
au.news.yahoo A massive sinkhole in Guangzhou, China, swallowed up buildings and knocked out power to thousands of residents.
According to Shanghaiist, the sinkhole is about 3,230 square feet and
plenty deep. A video shows a crowd milling about the sinkhole before it
expanded, causing a building to crumble as if it were detonated.
Neighboring buildings were evacuated and streets were blocked by
police. “Gas could be smelt from over 30 metres away, and deafening
noises could be heard as the land continued to crack and sink,” the
Shanghaiist reports.
Sinkholes are, unfortunately, nothing new. According to the U.S.
Geological Survey, some sinkholes are human-induced. “New sinkholes have
been correlated to land-use practices, especially from groundwater
pumping and from construction and development practices.” They also
occur in areas where the rock beneath the land surface can be easily
dissolved by groundwater.
Human-induced or not, sinkholes are getting a lot of press these
days. In China’s Guangxi province last year, a sinkhole formed after a
local school dug a well to ease its water shortage. Business Insider
reports that in Beijing, massive bomb shelters, “constructed amid fears
of an impending nuclear attack during the height of Chinese-Soviet
tensions,” may be contributing to the problem.
But they certainly aren’t limited to China. In 2011, a Florida
sinkhole gobbled up “a garbage bin, an oak tree, the back wall of the
building housing a salon and racks of supplies.” A woman in Guatemala
City discovered a 3-feet-wide, 40-feet-deep sinkhole beneath her bed.
And in Ohio, a massive sinkhole caused part of a state highway to
collapse. VIDEO
Thanks to: http://aworldchaos.wordpress.com