Friday 27 March 2015

Homes evacuated after sinkhole opens up in Swanley, southeast England.

Two homes have been evacuated in the town of Swanley in Kent, southeast England after a sinkhole opened up on Thursday 26 March 2015 swallowing two sheds behind the properties. The hole is described as being roughly two meters by three and several meters deep. There is not thought to be any immediate danger to human life, but Sevenoaks District Council has ordered the evacuation of the houses as a precaution. It is understood that the residents of one of the preperties have accepted alternative accommodation from the council, while the residents of the other have made their own arrangements.

Sinkhole that opened up in Swanley, Kent, on 26 March 2015, swallowing two sheds. BBC.

Sinkholes are generally caused by water eroding soft limestone or unconsolidated deposits from beneath, causing a hole that works its way upwards and eventually opening spectacularly at the surface. Where there are unconsolidated deposits at the surface they can infill from the sides, apparently swallowing objects at the surface, including people, without trace.

The approximate location of the 26 March 2015 Swanley Sinkhole. Google Maps.

On this occasion investigations by Thames Water have revealed a broken sewer beneath the sinkhole, though it is unclear if the sewer breaking was the cause of the event or if it was broken by some earth movement associated with the formation of the hole, as it appears to have been in good order prior to the event (people tend to notice and report broken sewers quickly). Thames Water and Sevenoaks District Council are reportedly working together to find a solution to the problem.

See also...

National geological surveys have traditionally produced two dimensional geological maps showing the outcropping of rock formations, combined with data on the dip of the strata (i.e. the angle at which the beds...

Two teenaged girls were rescues by teams from Kent Fire and Rescue and the Whitstable RNLI after becoming trapped in soft mud at Warden Point on the Isle of Sheppey (off the north coast of Kent in the Thames Estuary) on Saturday 2014. Initial attempts... 


On 8 April 2012, slightly after 2.00 pm GMT (slightly after 3.00 pm British Summertime) the British Geological Survey recorded an Earthquake about 10 km off the coast of Margate, southeast England, at a depth of 5 km. The quake measured 1.9 on the Richter Scale, so it...



Follow Sciency Thoughts on Facebook.