Residents in Texas are concerned that they may have to evacuate because of a sinkhole whose mouth has grown to more than 1,000 feet broad, local media reported. Around 2008, the sinkhole first formed near Daisetta, a community located about 55 miles northeast of Houston.
Only a 20-foot hole at first, it quickly grew and ate everything in its path. According to the Dallas Morning News, it was stable for approximately 15 years before it started to grow once more.
Both the width and depth of the hole have apparently increased by about 150 feet since Sunday. It is currently thought to be 260 feet deep.
"We just never thought it would start again," Linda Hoover, a local resident who lives near the sinkhole, told local news KTRK. "When we bought our house a few years ago, we were under the understanding that it was stabilised."
In areas where there are underground caves, sinkholes frequently develop. The ground above the caverns may collapse and fill them up when bedrock structures collapse, resulting in a sinkhole above the surface.
According to the US Geological Survey, Daisetta sinkhole is thought to have formed as a result of the town's location atop a salt dome that is eroding away.
According to a 2018 article in the journal Scientific Reports, fluids flowing into the minerals can aggravate salt dome erosion. In regions where the oil and gas industry operates wells and pipes, underground fluid leaks are frequent.
The USGS estimated that over the past 15 years, sinkholes had cost the US economy $300 million in damage expenses annually, but it was emphasised that this estimate is likely lower due to a lack of reporting.