Sinkholes are like nature’s surprise trapdoors, and some of their stories are downright terrifying! In Guatemala City, a giant sinkhole swallowed an entire building, leaving a massive, eerie hole behind. In Florida, a man’s bedroom was consumed by a sinkhole while he was inside, and rescuers couldn’t reach him—chilling, right? Then there’s the famous "Heavenly Pit" in China, which is a stunning but scary sinkhole that's over 2,000 feet deep. In Russia, a massive sinkhole keeps growing and has earned the nickname “Gateway to Hell.” These stories remind us that sometimes, the ground beneath our feet might not be as solid as we think! 🌍💥 Animation is created by Bright Side. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Music from TheSoul Sound: https://thesoul-sound.com/ Check our Bright Side podcast on Spotify and leave a positive review! https://open.spotify.com/show/0hUkPxD34jRLrMrJux4VxV Subscribe to Bright Side: https://goo.gl/rQTJZz ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Our Social Media: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/brightside Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brightside.official TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@brightside.official?lang=en Telegram: https://t.me/bright_side_official Stock materials (photos, footages and other): https://www.depositphotos.com https://www.shutterstock.com https://www.eastnews.ru ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- For more videos and articles visit: http://www.brightside.me ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This video is made for entertainment purposes. We do not make any warranties about the completeness, safety and reliability. Any action you take upon the information in this video is strictly at your own risk, and we will not be liable for any damages or losses. It is the viewer's responsibility to use judgement, care and precaution if you plan to replicate.
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00:00If you were in Kuala Lumpur this August, you might've seen something out of a disaster
00:05movie.
00:06A group of divers, fully suited up, preparing to dive into…
00:10The Asphalt.
00:12But this wasn't fiction.
00:13It was a real-life rescue mission for a woman swallowed by a sinkhole right in the middle
00:19of the city.
00:20She was walking down the street when a 26-foot-wide hole opened beneath her feet.
00:26The entire city of Kuala Lumpur was shocked by what happened.
00:30For days, a team of over a hundred rescuers tried locating the Indian tourist, but all
00:35they found was a pair of slippers after 17 hours of searching.
00:39The city even hired divers, who went down the sewers in full scuba gear.
00:44Their reports weren't too hopeful, though.
00:46They said it was pitch black down there, and their missions would constantly be thwarted
00:50by strong currents of water and sewage.
00:55Minerals are like nature's surprise trapdoors.
00:58They happen when underground erosion, often caused by water, weakens the ground beneath
01:03us.
01:04Running underground water dissolves minerals deep within the soil, leaving gaps within
01:08the rocks.
01:09This process, known as weathering, weakens the soil a lot.
01:13Once the voids and gaps become large enough, the top surface collapses, creating a giant
01:18hole.
01:20This happens without any warning, though.
01:22The Kuala Lumpur sinkhole was just one recent example, and it wasn't even the last.
01:27A second hole opened in the same neighborhood days later.
01:31Business owners kept saying how terrible for business this was.
01:35This area of Kuala Lumpur was usually busy with tourists, but the disasters kept them
01:40away for days.
01:42Sinkholes aren't fussy about when or where they show up.
01:45Look here, this is a scene from Naples, also earlier this year.
01:50It was a typical Wednesday morning when a sinkhole suddenly opened on a quiet street,
01:54swallowing two cars in the process.
01:57One of the cars was parked, but the other had people inside.
02:01By some miracle, the passengers managed to escape with just minor injuries, but the incident
02:06shook the entire city.
02:08The mayor blamed the event on years of neglecting the city's sewer system, saying it was the
02:13poor infrastructure that had made the ground unstable.
02:16Oh, and then there's Florida, nicknamed Sinkhole Alley for some good reasons.
02:22This year, Highland City, about 40 miles east of Tampa, experienced a dramatic sinkhole
02:27event.
02:29A local named Kyle was woken up by his frantic neighbor early one morning.
02:34When he went outside, he discovered that a 60-foot-deep sinkhole had appeared in his
02:38front yard, just inches from his kid's bedroom.
02:42Kyle was terrified, especially with his little one so close to the danger zone.
02:46His house wasn't damaged, but it was a narrow escape.
02:51Sinkholes aren't new to Florida.
02:53Back in 2013, Hillsborough County saw one of the most tragic sinkhole incidents in the
02:58state's history.
02:59Jeff, the resident of a one-story home built in the 1970s, was sleeping peacefully one
03:05night when the ground beneath his house began to collapse.
03:09Within a few minutes, a sinkhole had opened, swallowing part of the house with Jeff still
03:14inside.
03:15The other five people in the house managed to escape, but he wasn't as lucky.
03:20By the time the fire department arrived, they judged it too dangerous to conduct a full-scale
03:25rescue.
03:26Sinkholes are too unpredictable, and sending heavy equipment into the area could have caused
03:30the ground to give away even further.
03:34The county was so shocked by the event that they purchased the land where the sinkhole
03:37opened plus some surrounding properties to make sure no one would ever build there again.
03:43It turned out to be a smart move, as the sinkhole reopened twice more after the initial collapse.
03:49Both times, the area was empty, so nobody got hurt.
03:53What makes Florida especially vulnerable is its unique combination of factors.
03:58Most of the ground in the state is made of carbonate rocks, like limestone, which are
04:03highly porous and erode easily.
04:05The state also experiences cycles of drought, followed by heavy rainfall, which weakens
04:10the ground even more.
04:12To top all of that, the rising sea levels mean that groundwater is rising too, which
04:17only makes matters worse.
04:19Local governments have tried to manage the situation by changing the course of underground
04:24water currents and reinforcing vulnerable areas.
04:27But sinkholes are something they can't really get rid of.
04:31I know what you're thinking – sinkholes are terrible villains.
04:34But they aren't only bad – in some cases, they become tourist attractions and even homes
04:40to unique ecosystems.
04:43This sinkhole appeared in the middle of the sea and is called the Yongle Blue Hole or
04:47the Dragon Hole.
04:49The Dragon Hole is a maritime wonder, where over 20 distinct species of fish call home,
04:55even if the water is a bit more acidic than fish tend to like.
04:59No wonder scuba divers and snorkelers love these blue waters.
05:03The Dragon Hole is 984 feet deep, and it appeared near the Parasol Islands.
05:09Scientists discovered it back in 2016, and it's believed to be the deepest blue hole
05:14in the world.
05:15A blue hole happens whenever a sinkhole forms underwater.
05:19Here's your quick science overview.
05:22Under any body of water, there is land, also known as seabeds or ocean floor.
05:27Let's say this seabed is formed by carbonate rocks such as limestone.
05:32If penetrated by water, limestone tends to dissolve in its deepest layers, allowing for
05:37the appearance of caves and cavities.
05:40This is a process that starts deep beneath the ground, making its way up to the surface.
05:45When it reaches the surface, and the so-called ceiling of the cave is frail, then bam, that's
05:50when we get an underwater sinkhole, also known as a blue hole.
05:56Another way deep holes form is through underwater chemical reactions.
06:00When the freshwater from deep beneath the soil meets the saltwater from the oceans,
06:04this can cause chemical reactions.
06:06These reactions produce weak acids that eat the bedrocks and create these huge underwater
06:11caves.
06:12The Dragon Hole is so, so deep that scientists think it was formed through a different type
06:17of process.
06:18They speculate that it was either due to tectonic activity or some other unknown geological
06:24event.
06:25There are a few other blue holes in the world, such as the Dean's Blue Hole, located in
06:30the Bahamas, or the Great Blue Hole in Belize.
06:34This last one is an extremely popular diving destination, where tourists get to explore
06:38this 480-foot deep sinkhole.
06:42But wait until you see this wild sinkhole in Brazil.
06:46Meet the Hole of Macaws, one of the biggest island sinkholes in South America.
06:51This hole is 328 feet deep, and it's also the result of limestone erosion.
06:57Its name already gives away its current function.
07:00It serves as a home to thousands of macaws from varied species.
07:04You'll see the red and blue-winged macaws flying abundantly around here.
07:08It was formed around 300 million years ago, and it's a natural reserve nowadays.
07:14The rocky walls of the sinkhole turned out to be a great shelter for the macaws.
07:19All day long, these birds fly from left to right, always accompanied by their significant
07:24other.
07:25In case you didn't know, macaws are truly monogamous, and – oh, how romantic – there
07:30are an estimated 60 couples of macaws occupying this sinkhole at the moment.
07:36One of the most fascinating sinkholes you'll find is the Bema Sinkhole in Oman.
07:41This huge structure is in a dry rocky desert and hosts a turquoise pool of water.
07:47Archeologists once believed a meteor struck the Earth to create it.
07:51This old legend ended up giving the hole its name, which translates to Falling Star in
07:56English.
07:57But it turned out that it formed naturally when the limestone below eroded away over
08:02time.
08:03This huge sinkhole is about 135 feet wide and 65 feet deep.
08:08The turquoise water is a combination of both fresh groundwater and salty seawater.
08:14And since it's so stunning, it was turned into a park.
08:18People come from all over the world to take in this surreal view.
08:22That's it for today!
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