The Gates of Hell Just Opened In Guatemala

[2Design]

http://gizmodo.com/5551916/the-gates-of-hell-just-opened-in-guatemala

The Guatemalan government. What you are looking at here is a sinkhole that just appeared in the Zone 2 of Ciudad de Guatemala. And it's very real.

[Ken Burch]

1. My God....how many homes and people fell INTO that?

And do they know how far down it goes yet?

[inna]

5. "Luckily, it happened in a street intersection and there are no victims."

According to the post. :shrug:

[Ken Burch]

8. Well, I hope everybody remembers to stop taking THAT shortcut.

That is one of the freakiest things I've ever seen.

[tammywammy]

2. Dupe

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x8457590

[inna]

14. It's ok; the more the merrier.

[On the Road]

3. It Looks Almost Too Perfect

but apparently there it is. Hard to believe anyone survived.

[Synicus Maximus]

4. That is not the gates of hell, it is a sinkhole. This is the real

gates of hell. Darvaza Turkmenistan, it has been burning for 38 years
http://static.atlasobscura.com/place/the-gates-of-hell

[tammywammy]

6. Holy crap!

[Bluebear]

9. Holy cannoli!!

[inna]

10. Holy crap, indeed. Parallels with BP, anyone?...

:scared:

[Petrushka]

13. And to think there was a suggestion that BP should nuke the BP spill . . .

. . . :scared:

In the hot, expansive Karakum desert in Turkmenistan, near the 350 person village of Derweze, is a hole 328 feet wide that has been on fire, continuously, for 38 years. Known as the Darvaza Gas Crater or the "Gates of Hells" by locals, the crater can be seen glowing for miles around.

The hole is the outcome not of nature but of an industrial accident. In 1971 a Soviet drilling rig accidentally punched into a massive underground natural gas cavern, causing the ground to collapse and the entire drilling rig to fall in. Having punctured a pocket of gas, poisonous fumes began leaking from the hole at an alarming rate. To head off a potential environmental catastrophe, the Soviets set the hole alight. The crater hasn't stopped burning since.

Though little information is available about the fate of the Soviet drilling rig, presumably it is still down there somewhere, on the other side of the "Gates of Hell."

[inna]

17. Exactly! IIRC, the BP "hole" sits on top of the second biggest reservoir of oil/natural gas in the

world. (I might be wrong, but that's what I read on DU... :shrug: )

Anyway, all talk about "nuking the leak" is pure madness, IMO.

[JNelson6563]

15. Now that is some crazy shit right there.

A hole that has burned for 38 years. Incredible.

Julie

[atomic-fly]

7. that is scary as shit...never seen anything like that. nt

[corpseratemedia]

11. Looks so real its like a movie! Looks like a movie it looks so real!

Nobody was killed? Amazing...!

[gleaner]

12. That is just terrifying ...

I've seen news stories before about sink holes which would be big enough to swallow a car, or which simply appear in someone's yard but I have never seen anything like this. Does anyone know how deep it is or what they plan to do to fill it in?

[Synicus Maximus]

22. There was another sinkhold like this one in Guatemala City in

2007 that was 330 feet deep.

[gleaner]

26. Thank you ....

That is so comforting to know. ;):wow:

[azmouse]

16. Is 2012 happening early?

wow... that is really weird!

[inna]

18. nope, we haven't seen anything yet.

I bet the next couple of years are going to be very "interesting", to say the least.

[DavidDvorkin]

19. That doesn't look real to me

I suspect some Photoshopping.

That site says the photo came from the Guatemalan government, but there's no link to a government site.

[inna]

21. I agree, it doesn't LOOK real, but here's another link:

http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/05/31/honduras.storm.emergency/index.html?hpt=T1

Acc. to CNN, "The office of Guatemala's president handed out this aerial view of a crater that opened up after Agatha hit."

Seems legit (although hard to believe).

[Statistical]

20. THIS IS SPARTA ... er Guatemala!!!!!! n/t

[tigereye]

23. holy crap- that's huge and really deep!

:scared:



How deep is it?

[Name removed]

24. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[proteus_lives]

25. Get the BFGs ready in case something starts crawling out.

[Dead_Parrot]

28. lol. +1

[hobbit709]

27. Here is the gate to Hell

Video here
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wF8tZjKTfEE&feature=player_embedded#!