Sinkhole Bigger Than A Basketball Court Appears At Mining Site

A massive sinkhole more than 11 feet longer than a full-size basketball court shocked Chile residents when it mysteriously appeared Saturday.

Sinking a hole in golf is a good thing. Sinkholes that appear without warning are not.

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A massive sinkhole more than 11 feet longer than a full-size basketball court shocked Chile residents when it mysteriously appeared Saturday, USA Today reports.

Chile’s National Service of Geology and Mining, Sernageomin, noted in a Monday tweet that the collapse spanned about 82 feet in diameter. But yesterday, the agency upped their measurement of the sinkhole, saying it spanned nearly 105 feet in diameter.

It appears no one sustained any injuries during the incident.

Sinkholes: Frightening, Increasingly Common Dangers

The sinkhole appeared in the Atacama Desert near Tierra Amarilla, which is about a mile away from the South Pacific Ocean. Specifically, it occurred close to an underground copper mine that Lundin Mining Corporation operates.

The mining company commented Monday on the collapse, which happened at its Minera Ojos del Salado operations. Lundin Mining said the sinkhole didn’t damage its equipment or infrastructure at the Alcaparrosa underground mine. According to the company, the mine’s extractions amount to about 5 percent of the overall ore that Candelaria Copper Mining Complex processes annually.

“The surficial sinkhole has remained stable since detection [since it appeared,” Lundin’s press release noted. Even so, the company added that it had temporarily suspended development work at the mine.

Chilean authorities continue to investigate the matter.

Collapses similar to the one that happened in Chile are — or were — considered to be freak incidents. However,, two years ago, a sinkhole opened up on a sidewalk in the Bronx borough of New York City. It caused one man to plummet into the ground and on top of a pile of rats.

Two months ago, Cave explorers in China discovered a 630-foot deep sinkhole with a stunning ancient forest range that includes 130-foot tall trees.

And just last week, another massive sinkhole claimed a man’s life when it opened at a swimming pool in Israel.

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