More Recent Sinkhole Activity: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/evergreen-line-sinkhole-closes-clarke-road-indefinitely-1.3103583?cmp=rss Sinkhole Threats are Rising. In a leafy suburb near Tampa, Florida, on February 28, 2013, a giant hole opened up under the bedroom floor of Jeffrey Bush, swallowing him as he slept. His body was never found. Bush was a victim of a sinkhole—a worldwide hazard that lurks wherever limestone and other water-soluble rocks underpin the soil. When carbon dioxide from the air dissolves in rainwater, it forms a weak acid that attacks soft rocks, riddling them with holes like Swiss cheese. Sinkholes can occur gradually when the surface subsides into bowl shaped depressions or suddenly when the ground gives way. These geological hazards have swallowed highways, APARTMENT buildings, horses, camels, even golfers, with monster-size holes cracking the earth from Siberia to Louisiana. Filled with compelling eyewitness video of dramatic collapses, and following scientists as they explore the underlying forces behind these natural disasters, NOVA travels the globe to investigate what it’s like to have your world vanish beneath your feet.
Is there any way to check if the area you are living is prone to sink holes? This is a very useful post….thanks for sharing!
There a are a couple of simple, free ways ways of checking that I can think of off hand:
1. Take a long probing stick. (at least 8 feet long) and poke the land surrounding your home or property. If the stick easily penetrates the ground, you might be living on a sinkhole.
2. Check local property records, to see if there has been any history of Sinkhole activity or land disturbance in your neighborhood.
Thanks….I am shopping for houses and I will keep that in mind.
Your Welcome…. Sinkholes are an amazing “Natural Phenomenom” that are common in Florida and Spain providing evidence of the “fragility of life”. Building a home on a Sinkhole is similar to building on Swiss Cheese… lol