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GIANT sinkhole hits town in southeastern Texas

chicagotribune.com — A large sinkhole swallowed up oil field equipment and some vehicles Wednesday in Daisetta, Texas and continued to grow. There were no reports of injuries or home damage.

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  • displaced1, on 05/09/2008, -1/+2I saw this on the news this morning, the reporters thought nothing of it until they found out that the sink hole had expanded to that size in just 24 hours. Grabbed my attention too!
  • ColonelTribune, on 05/09/2008, -2/+4It's the size of six football fields, you know. Crazy.
    • aMammoth, on 05/09/2008, -6/+7Ah, you're one of those American's who can only measure in football fields. You're helping my country look that much more stupid.
      To hell with the Imperial system!
      • Dumbledorito, on 05/09/2008, -2/+8What is it in Cricket Pitches, then?
      • masterm1nd, on 05/09/2008, -2/+2Don't you think that way may be easier for people to accurately visualize?
    • ryanscottdavis, on 05/09/2008, -3/+4Incorrect. The article states that the hole is 600 feet long, and an American football field is roughly 360 feet (100m). The hole is about the size of 1and 2/3 football fields, still massive.
      • anachronaut, on 05/09/2008, -0/+6The hole is fairly circular with a radius of approximately 300 feet. That gives an approximate area of 282,600 ft/sq. A football field is 360x160 ft, giving you an area of 57600 ft/sq per field. That means the sinkhole is approximately the same area as 4.9 football fields (with a much greater volume due to the depth).

        You're literally comparing rectangles to circles, meaning that the original poster's estimate was much more accurate than yours.
    • WTFppl, on 05/09/2008, -1/+1This is what happens when you take the oil out of the ground in shallow places.
  • molliann, on 05/09/2008, -1/+8What causes sinkholes, anyway?
    • scooterbaga, on 05/09/2008, -0/+18Graboids.
      • shondell, on 05/09/2008, -0/+2*****. I just got over my nightmares about those damn graboids. Well looks like ill be sleepin with a shotgun tonight. thanks a lot.
    • DeskFlyer, on 05/09/2008, -0/+8Witchcraft.
    • unicronband, on 05/09/2008, -2/+45Terrorism, global warming, Crab people, super delegates, GTA IV, gay marriage, mrbabyman's duplicate submissions, thetans, Uwe Boll's films, pictures of cats, Rick Astley and you touching yourself at night.
    • aMammoth, on 05/09/2008, -1/+14Man Bear pigs.
      Serially though,
      If you read the article, which you failed at, you would of found this one was caused by an empty salt dome do to drilling for oil. Other causes include leaking pipes, and underground rivers.
    • EwMo, on 05/09/2008, -0/+28When your mom goes skydiving and forgets her parachute.
    • grumpyrain, on 05/09/2008, -0/+7Matt Damon
    • Shogi, on 05/09/2008, -0/+6Rosie O'Donell.
    • Ocelot13, on 05/09/2008, -0/+1global warming.

    • insanebrain, on 05/09/2008, -0/+1me
    • jozb, on 05/09/2008, -0/+3http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4Of8cm0kS8 for a more serious answer. but i like u guy's answer better.
    • rusty0101, on 05/09/2008, -1/+6Funny stuff there.

      In most cases Sinkholes are caused by the erosion of soil under the surface due to some characteristic of the physical geography of the area. Sinkholes are not at all uncommon in Karst topography areas, where active, and inactive, cave systems in limestone provide a way for groundwater to leave the soil, and carry some of that topsoil with it, undermining the soil above it. Depending upon how much water is entering the soil, how it's getting there, and the type of soil, you can see sink holes ranging in size from a couple of feet into tens or hundreds of feet in circumference.

      Growing to this size in 24 hours is not at all unusual either. In most cases it means that the exit point for the water is fairly large, and deep. It also means that the underburden has been eroding for some time, months, years, or even decades may have been seen where soil has been eroding away. If active surveying is happening in the area, the surveyors may notice some settling happening in the area before it actually collapses, but if the 'drain' has opened recently, and there is a source for a lot of water to percolate through, you can see a tremendous amount of erosion happen in a very short time.

      Look at the Engineering Disasters series on Discovery Channel, and you'll eventually catch the episode where a tunnel being put in for a train in Los Angeles caused a sinkhole that took out about a block of a city street in several hours after a torrential rain.

      Water mains cracking in several major cities have resulted in similar issues.
    • masterofshadows, on 05/09/2008, -0/+1I am not sure how it happened in texas, the article was light on details. But essentially a sinkhole is a hollow area of the ground. In our case out here in florida its because the water level in the aquifer rises and falls, washing out the soft limestone.
    • Viend, on 05/09/2008, -8/+3Jews.
    • VitriolAndAngst, on 05/09/2008, -0/+2Some are caused by Erosion.
      I'd say in Texas, it is caused by pumping water and oil out of the ground. Now, often, especially in the case of oil, water or salt water is pumped in to replace it -- it can help force out more oil with less pumping. But the water can drain off more readily than oil or they might not have pumped any.

      So, when you remove water and oil from underneath the ground -- the land "floating" on top of it now has a big empty cavern -- when that collapses, you get a sink hole.

      Some can be formed by erosion under the ground -- and this also can cause a lake to disappear overnight when a channel is found underground to allow the water to drain out. But, again, I'd say this is due to pumping.
    • GeekyGerge, on 05/09/2008, -0/+1Magic.
    • JesusDeluxe, on 05/09/2008, -0/+2Someone drinking all your milkshake
  • novenator, on 05/09/2008, -1/+15Strange, they are sapping billions of gallons of crude from below and a sinkhole forms there, how did that happen? /sarcasm
    • Sub7, on 05/09/2008, -0/+2One day it'll happen to the rest of the world.
  • unicronband, on 05/09/2008, -0/+30Some photos

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_pictures/7390116.stm
  • Blakechi, on 05/09/2008, -7/+8Mother Earth's retribution for the Bush regime.
    • AshamedAmerican, on 05/09/2008, -1/+7She was off by about 1,300 miles.
    • MrFurious2k, on 05/09/2008, -1/+1Anyone that says, "Mother Earth" ought to fall in a sinkhole.
  • Shogi, on 05/09/2008, -0/+12LOCUST!!!!
  • Loopholes, on 05/09/2008, -2/+3They put a LHC In Texas?
  • arbouler, on 05/09/2008, -2/+3there will be sinkholes!
    • corryface, on 05/09/2008, -1/+1i drink your milkshake... I DRINK IT UP!!
  • Dumbledorito, on 05/09/2008, -3/+8I thought they waited until Presidents were out of office before building memorials.
    • JaNkz, on 05/09/2008, -5/+0Yeah cause the current president invented using oil to power our entire infrastructure... You're so ignorant it's not even funny. People act like we haven't been using oil for over a century.
  • AnimeCwboy, on 05/09/2008, -0/+2Video: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032619/#24526615
  • zyryx, on 05/09/2008, -10/+8hopefully the entire state will fall in
    • gcleaves, on 05/09/2008, -1/+2Hey, not nice. My family isn't from Texas but they live in Austin. So do lots of other liberal, educated, fun folk.

      And anyway, Texas is TOO big to fall into any hole! ;-)
    • ScottyWZ, on 05/09/2008, -2/+2As a native-born Texan, I find that very offensive. I don't care if the Western White House IS in Crawford, but:

      DON'T MESS WITH TEXAS!
  • BenBenMan, on 05/09/2008, -3/+4...... om nom nom nom?
  • CarStan, on 05/09/2008, -3/+10OM NOM NOM NOM
  • taxman, on 05/09/2008, -1/+1Those Damn Locusts ?!
  • corryface, on 05/09/2008, -2/+0DDDDRRRAAAAIIIINNNNNNAAAAGGGGEEEE!!!!
  • jozb, on 05/09/2008, -0/+1http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4Of8cm0kS8 a similar incident, interesting watch.
  • sb76117, on 05/09/2008, -1/+1wouldn't a more proper tag line be "Southeastern Texas town hits GIANT sinkhole" ?
    or is my understanding of gravity and falling bodies flawed?
  • blankoboy, on 05/09/2008, -0/+2The answer to my long asked question "What happens hen you've sucked all the oil out of the ground below? Aren't there giant gaping holes that need to be filled?" The middle east must be due for some serious "sinkage".
    • truthhurts28, on 05/09/2008, -0/+1i might be way off base here but i think that there really isnt a large pool of oil in the ground such as like that of a lake. I think it is more like pockets and mainly mixed with sand, shale, etc, etc. I am pretty sure that today they do fill in the voids after drilling. I think it is called fracking. That is just what I think and would probably sound like an idiot to someone experienced in the field.
  • h3lx, on 05/09/2008, -1/+3Of all the submitted articles with videos and live feeds and this dim halfwitted ***** gets it...

    /it makes no ***** sense.
    • Aensland, on 05/09/2008, -0/+1The difference being that this article had a sufficient midichlorian count.
  • hunnii0719, on 05/09/2008, -0/+0If you want more local information about the sinkhole click here... http://www.kfdm.com/news/sinkhole_25934___article. ...
  • CA55IDY, on 05/09/2008, -0/+1General RAMM up to no good!! thought i killed him after 5 tries!
  • Furlong, on 05/09/2008, -0/+2ITS A TRAP
  • benvladimir, on 05/09/2008, -1/+1HAHA WIN
  • InsaneWookie, on 05/09/2008, -0/+3Pics or it didn't happen
  • truthhurts28, on 05/09/2008, -0/+1Those damn invisible meteorites!
  • MrFurious2k, on 05/09/2008, -0/+2"A large sinkhole swallowed up oil field equipment and some vehicles Wednesday in Daisetta, Texas and continued to grow."

    Oh *****, yet another excuse for gas prices to rise.
  • DeFex, on 05/09/2008, -0/+2Good thing they measured it in football fields and not acres or anything like that. nobody can understand any measurement unless it is in "football fields" or "human hairs"
  • starwarp2000, on 05/09/2008, -0/+0A portal to Hell?
    Watch your backs!!!!!!
  • Duositex, on 05/09/2008, -0/+1This is nothing as far as sinkholes go in Texas. Check out this: http://www.co.winkler.tx.us/sinkhole.htm
  • radiantstorm, on 05/09/2008, -0/+1Those wacky, wacky humans. Fu&king everything up . . .
  • MMaster23, on 05/09/2008, -0/+2(Y) Emerge hole
  • DJCamCam78, on 05/09/2008, -0/+2Its Satan coming for Bush.
  • ,,|,_, on 05/09/2008, -1/+2Q: Why does Texas have so many sinkholes?

    A: Oklahoma really sucks
  • Sirlolalot, on 05/09/2008, -0/+1Don't panic! the 800 barrels of oil were evacuated safely, everything is OK.
  • McShr3dd3r, on 05/09/2008, -0/+0Earth Fights Back!!!

    (do a barrel roll)
  • WTFppl, on 05/09/2008, -0/+1Just imagine what would happen if the oil-field of north Texas decide to collapse from years of taking out what was holding a layer of ground up!
  • paulcito, on 05/09/2008, -0/+0I've often wondered how many sinkholes and earthquakes are due to the oil we pull out of the ground
  •  

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