Saturday 14 September 2019

Sinkhole swallows taxi in Ningxia Province, China.

A taxi driver had to abandon his vehicle and scramble to safety after it was swallowed by a sinkhole on Monday 9 September 2019. The incident happened in the city of Guyuan in Ningxia Province, China, when a hole roughly 60 m² opened up beneath the taxi shortly after the driver dropped of a passenger. Nobody was hurt in the incident.

A sinkhole that opened up in the city of Guyuan in Ningxia Province, China, on Monday 9 September 2019. AsiaWire.

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.

On this occasion the incident happened when heavy rain in the area caused a drainage pipe beneath the road to rupture, allowing water to wash away soft sediments beneath the road, leading to the collapse.

See also...

https://sciencythoughts.blogspot.com/2018/07/using-hyperspectral-remote-sensing-to.htmlhttps://sciencythoughts.blogspot.com/2017/08/nineteen-dead-after-70-earthquake-in.html
https://sciencythoughts.blogspot.com/2016/12/explosion-kills-33-at-inner-mongolia.htmlhttps://sciencythoughts.blogspot.com/2014/04/24-million-without-tapwater-in-gansu.html
https://sciencythoughts.blogspot.com/2013/10/magnitude-47-earthquake-in-northwest.htmlhttps://sciencythoughts.blogspot.com/2013/10/the-spread-of-deserts-in-northern-china.html

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