A giant continuously growing sinkhole has appeared out of nowhere in Chile and scientists have been trying to figure out how this is happening.
Rest assured that it isn’t Godzilla because the hole is too round to be a footprint.
Currently at 25 metres wide and 200 metres deep, the hole first appeared in the Tierra Amarilla community in the Atacama Region on Saturday, 30 July.
“Yesterday, we received a citizen complaint regarding a sinkhole that would have occurred here in our community near the Alcaparrosa mine.” said the local Mayor Cristobal Zuniga.
While it’s not a black hole so to speak, even Muse would agree that it’s still supermassive.
The hole continues to grow
Shockingly, the sinkhole is still growing which has left the community greatly concerned.
“It is still active, it is still growing and it is something that has not previously been seen in our community.”
“We are concerned, since it is a fear that we have always had as a community, the fact we are surrounded by mining deposits and subterranean works under our community.”
Atacama Region official Gerardo Tapia has instructed the National Geology and Mining Service to figure out how the strange sinkhole appeared.
“Minera Ojos del Salado is conducting a technical analysis and gathering information to determine the cause of the event.” said mine owners, Lundin Mining Corporation.
The Deftones certainly aren’t the cause of this because their song ‘Hole in The Earth’ was released back in 2009 and this sinkhole only appeared this past Saturday.
Luckily nobody has been injured by the sinkhole as on Monday, Lundin Mining Corporation had confirmed that all mining work in the area was suspended immediately upon detection.
“There has been no impact to personnel, equipment or infrastructure.”
Sinkholes across the globe
Back in May, a 200m hole was discovered in China which contained an ancient forest with rumored new species living within.
Sinkholes have even appeared in India where a viral video of a car being swallowed by one in Mumbai went viral.
Some may remember that in the movie Holes, Stanley and his crew are tasked with digging holes every day and would earn a day off if they uncovered anything interesting. Perhaps actor Shia LaBeouf is responsible for digging these sinkholes in search of real life treasure.
If the rumoured new species in the Chinese sinkhole is some kind of lizard, rest assured that if any crawl out like in the film, all you need to do is eat some onions like Stanley and you’ll be safe.
Failing that, you could always count on Mr. Sir to save the day.