Sinkhole in China swallows bus and pedestrians.

[cupid_stunt]

At least 6 dead, and 10 missing.

This is nuts, apparently the sinkhole stretched nearly 10m (32 feet) in diameter...

At least six dead after huge sinkhole in China swallows bus and pedestrians

Footage on state TV shows the vehicle disappearing inside the sinkhole in the city of Xining as people run away

www.theguardian.com

 

[Reno]

Not sure it needed the dramatic music.

 

[cupid_stunt]

Not sure it needed the dramatic music.

You are right, what a weird thing to do, I hadn't noticed it as I had it muted, assuming as it's CCTV footage there wouldn't be sound, I've swapped the South China Morning Post version for The Guardian one.

 

[skyscraper101]

Are sinkholes preventable in any way? As in, would there be any way to know when constructing a road that it's in a high risk area and then make contingencies.

 

[quimcunx]

Are sinkholes preventable in any way? As in, would there be any way to know when constructing a road that it's in a high risk area and then make contingencies.

You'd think for things like that there would be signs that there is a possibility of sinkholes.

 

[Cid]

Are sinkholes preventable in any way? As in, would there be any way to know when constructing a road that it's in a high risk area and then make contingencies.

I don’t think so... maybe now if you had access to decent ground penetrating radar. Otherwise it’s a question of knowing which areas might be susceptible to sinkholes. But if there’s already a city there, I imagine it can be tricky. Also depends what the specific cause is.

 

[farmerbarleymow]

I don’t think so... maybe now if you had access to decent ground penetrating radar. Otherwise it’s a question of knowing which areas might be susceptible to sinkholes. But if there’s already a city there, I imagine it can be tricky. Also depends what the specific cause is.

Yeah, difficult to be exact no doubt. Having an understanding of the underlying geology would help to an extent (e.g. limestone), but having a clear understanding of the history of mining in the area and fluid flows must be much trickier.

 

[weltweit]

The report I saw said it was quite common in China because of the fast pace of development. Which I took to mean building fast and not checking for things like this so much.

 

[Cid]

The report I saw said it was quite common in China because of the fast pace of development. Which I took to mean building fast and not checking for things like this so much.

Some of them are related to poor design and construction of utilities/drainage - e.g if you've got a broken storm drain all that water will start eroding the ground around it. That's possibly what happened here (the graun quotes early investigation as 'water pipes breaking up due to rain'). It seems like a hell of a lot of erosion to happen in a short time, but that depends what other sub surface construction there's been I suppose.

 

[two sheds]

My first reaction was how strange that they leave sinkholes lying around. In Cornwall, though, there's loads of undiscovered shafts of old tin/copper mines that regularly open up in the surrounding roads and villages.

I heard that the miners used to head towards the surface and if they came across tree roots they'd head downwards again and come up somewhere else. Apparently a couple of miles down the road a bloke went out into his garden one morning and asked his wife "Where's the oak tree gone?".

 

[farmerbarleymow]

A large (and pleasingly circular) sinkhole has appeared in a mining area in Chile - 25m across and 200m deep. No injuries thankfully.

Sinkhole 25 metres wide prompts investigation near Chilean copper mine

Hole believed to be about 200m deep appeared close to Tierra Amarilla town, Copiapo province

www.theguardian.com