A 105 feet-wide sinkhole was found in Chile. Here are other sinkholes, manmade and natural, that opened up around the world.

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A 105 feet-wide sinkhole was found in Chile. Here are other sinkholes, manmade and natural, that opened up around the world.
  • Authorities found a 105-feet-wide, 656-feet-deep sinkhole in Copiapó, Chile on Monday.
  • Sinkholes can be manmade or naturally occurring.

A mysterious sinkhole estimated to be about 105 feet wide and 656 feet deep — about as long as a basketball court and as tall as a nearly 50-story building — emerged near a mining site in northern Chile on Saturday, according to the National Service of Geology and Mining, a Chilean government agency.

"There is a considerable distance, approximately [656 feet], to the bottom," David Montenegro, a director at the National Service of Geology and Mining, told Reuters. "We haven't detected any material down there, but we have seen the presence of a lot of water."

Investigators are looking into possible causes for the collapse, which joins the ranks of other mysterious sinkholes that have cropped up over the years.

Sinkholes can be naturally occurring or manmade. They most commonly occur in areas with "karst terrain," where the rocks below the surface "can naturally be dissolved by groundwater circulating through them," according to the US Geological Survey.

When the water beneath the land slowly dissolves and carries away the rock, eventually the ground collapses often in very dramatic form.

In cities, sinkholes can emerge after a water main break or a burst pipe. They can also occur in areas where there is abundant rain, according to National Geographic.

At least in the US, there is no database tracking the number of sinkholes, according to the USGS. Oftentimes, they go unreported especially when they happen in rural areas.

The damages can be extensive, however, from financial tolls to deaths. In the past 15 years, the USGS estimates that sinkholes cost at least $300 million per year on average in the US. And the costs are probably much higher, the agency states. It's unclear how many have died from this phenomenon.

Here are some sinkholes that have appeared in the past several years.

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Karmei Yosef, Israel. July 22, 2022.

Karmei Yosef, Israel. July 22, 2022.
Israeli first responders work on a sinkhole that appeared during a pool party.Israel Fire and Rescue Services/AP

Sinkholes don't have to be wide to be deadly. One man was pulled to his death at a party in Karmei Yosef, a town about 25 miles outside Tel Aviv, when a sinkhole opened under a swimming pool.

The couple who owns the property was arrested on suspicion of negligent manslaughter, according to The Washington Post.

Ein Gedi, Israel. October 31, 2021.

Ein Gedi, Israel. October 31, 2021.
Clusters of sinkholes by the shore of the Dead Sea.Amir Cohen/Reuters

A cluster of sinkholes can be seen by the Dead Sea shore near the Ein Gedi oasis in Israel.

As the body of water shrinks due to climate change, thousands of sinkholes have appeared over the years with more to be expected.

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Mexico City, Mexico. June 27, 2022.

Mexico City, Mexico. June 27, 2022.
Workers repair a sinkhole in Iztapalapa in Mexico City, Mexico.Gerardo Vieyra/Eyepix Group/Future Publishing via Getty Images

Workers repair a sinkhole that appeared in Iztapalapa, a highly populated neighborhood in Mexico City. Water supply was cut off for more than 30 neighborhoods.

Villa Nueva, Guatemala. June 19, 2022.

Villa Nueva, Guatemala. June 19, 2022.
A sinkhole in Villa Nueva, Guatemala.Sandra Sebastrian/Reuters

A sinkhole in Villa Nueva, Guatemala, about 10 miles south of Guatemala City, appeared after the country experienced heavy rainfall.

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Jerusalem, Israel. June 7, 2021.

Jerusalem, Israel. June 7, 2021.
A sinkhole at a hospital parking lot in Jerusalem.Gil Cohen-Magen/AFP via Getty Images

Part of a parking lot in Jerusalem collapsed and swallowed several cars. Hospital officials at the time said it could have been caused by the highway tunnel construction nearby, according to The Guardian.

Puebla, Mexico. May 29, 2021.

Puebla, Mexico. May 29, 2021.
A sinkhole in rural Puebla, Mexico.Agencia Es Imagen/Reuters

This over 400-feet chasm first began as a small sinkhole measuring 15 feet wide, located in a rural area of Puebla, Mexico. Dogs fell in the hole and were rescued by local firemen.

The National Water Commission, which manages Mexico's national water resources, initially blamed the sinkhole on natural causes, The New Yorker reported.

A study later revealed that the cavity may have been caused by overexploitation of groundwater, soil erosion, and heavy rainfall, according to the Mexico News Daily.

Others have argued that the cause was linked to Bonafont, a water-bottling plant, according to The New Yorker.

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Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. October 28, 2019.

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. October 28, 2019.
A commuter bus stuck in a sinkhole in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.Gene J. Puskar/AP

A bus was caught in a 20-feet-deep sinkhole that opened in downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

There was only one passenger and a driver aboard the bus, the Port Authority of Allegheny County said at the time. The passenger sustained a minor injury.

Moscow, Russia. October 1, 2019.

Moscow, Russia. October 1, 2019.
Water floods a traffic tunnel after a sinkhole emerged in Moscow, Russia.Maxim Shemetov/Reuters

A traffic tunnel was reportedly flooded due to a sinkhole in Moscow, Russia, according to Reuters.

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Dazhou, China. October 7, 2018.

Dazhou, China. October 7, 2018.
Excavators work on a sinkhole in Dazhou, China.China Stringer Network/Reuters

Excavators work at a sinkhole that destroyed a sidewalk in Dazhou, China on October 7, 2018. Two people died due to the collapse, according to Reuters.

Heilongjiang, China. August 4, 2018.

Heilongjiang, China. August 4, 2018.
Two cars plunged into a sinkhole in northeast China.China Stringer Network/Reuters

Two cars plunged into a sinkhole after Harbin, a city in the Heilongjiang province in northeast China, experienced heavy rain, according to Yahoo News.

The three people in the cars were not injured. The sinkhole was about 86 square feet, according to a report.

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