Schmalkalden Sinkhole Swallows Garage In Germany (VIDEO)

Residents in the eastern German town of Schmalkalden got a fright when they heard what sounded like a loud roar in the wee hours of Monday morning. As the sun began to emerge, a giant sinkhole -- measuring more than 130 feet wide and 65 feet deep -- was revealed, according to the Associated Press.

The giant crater, which was said to have formed at about 3 a.m. Monday, sucked in part of a resident's garage and claimed one automobile. No injuries were reported, but some 25 people have been evacuated. Another automobile appears to be teetering at its edge.

Officials aren't clear on what formed the crater, but confirm natural causes were responsible. They now plan to fill it with gravel.

See aerial views of the Schmalkalden crater in the video below:

Comments

[mbaty]

06:34 PM on 11/03/2010

Big sinkholes in Guatemala, Quebec, New Jersey, Tampa, and China...what is going on?

[AJoSi]

09:08 AM on 11/03/2010

If you jump into this hole, will you come out in China ?

[Alexander Konstanz]

08:24 PM on 11/03/2010

haha, good question. What I always ask myself is, if you would come out with your feet first and standing on your head? And how about gravity? You could just fall to the middle of the earth and what happens then? :D

[realitycitizen]

02:11 AM on 11/04/2010

My guess would be that you end up suspended in mid air when you reach the middle.

[ConnerMcMaub]

04:31 AM on 11/03/2010

Aren't massive water use and depletion of fossil aquifers a leading cause of sinkholes.

[garder54]

08:00 AM on 11/03/2010

No, they are caused from erosion of the bedrock (usually limestone) by percolation or changes in the groundwater table

[emphatico]

02:51 AM on 11/03/2010

Bumsen!!! That's scary!

[Kevin Webb Rogers]

01:39 AM on 11/03/2010

"Officials aren't clear on what formed the crater, but confirm natural causes were responsible." Ridiculous! Everyone knows terrorists are hollowing out the earth from beneath us!

[BabaLou7]

10:31 AM on 11/03/2010

I thought it was aliens!

[littleolwinemakerme]

12:27 AM on 11/03/2010

Ach! Was is das?

[nidhi]

11:31 PM on 11/02/2010

Dude!
These things are fascinating, just from a what's going on under the surface perspective.
http://www.frequency.com/topic/sinkholes/25987?raw=true

[moutonnoir]

10:46 PM on 11/02/2010

just one more sign of the end times!

[Sister777]

11:54 PM on 11/02/2010

Really?! What makes you so sure we are in the end times? Haven't people been saying that since the dawn of history? Can't we conduct ourselves in a manner that includes a future vision for our children? Isn't that what Jesus would want?

[kenEBport]

12:07 AM on 11/03/2010

Oh come on!!! It's obvious,..I mean it was a GARAGE for chrissake's, that's just NOT normal,...the next thing you know it will be detached home-offices, or maybe even RUMPUS rooms, and then what's gonna be your excuse???!!!
Plus, don't ask what Jesus would want, after all it's his Dad's fault this thing happened anyway,...Jeesh

[wegugin]

07:02 AM on 11/03/2010

i think he's kidding. i mean, who believes that and also reads the huffpo?

[1differentdrummer]

04:54 AM on 11/03/2010

Good humor.

[dancinNM]

10:41 PM on 11/02/2010

didnt this just happen in guatemala?

[VioletsAreBlue12]

11:42 PM on 11/02/2010

And in Canada, and in China.

[blacksmithn]

10:14 PM on 11/02/2010

No, HP. The headline for tonight should be "Massive Sinkhole Swallows HOUSE."

[lightist]

08:42 PM on 11/02/2010

The only time I want to sink in a hole is after I've finished being alive.

[The Dude67]

08:34 PM on 11/02/2010

Wow this could have been much worse. Nice footage.

[Aroddo]

08:19 PM on 11/02/2010

usually happens as a result of mining operations ... long suspended mining operations. some 30 years earlier.
thankfully the mining companies always pay for these nearly unpredictable damages without a fuss.

[thaneb]

08:50 PM on 11/02/2010

In this case, mining operations have been excluded as a cause.

[moutonnoir]

10:47 PM on 11/02/2010

this is clearly the gates of hell...

[garder54]

08:01 AM on 11/03/2010

No, they are caused from erosion of the bedrock (usually limestone) by percolation or changes in the groundwater table. If a mine collapses we say the mine collapsed, we don't call it a sinkhole.

[Aroddo]

01:12 AM on 11/04/2010

maybe, but usually these holes open in germany because of mining operations, which in many cases cause groundwater to flow through those mined tunnels and further erode the land under the landscape.
Maybe this one was a natural one or a mining-related one - both holes look the same. And I only said, that they are USUALLY caused by mining.
We get about 70,000 of new mining related damaged reports each year (which are eligible to reimbursement) and about a hundred or so are those not-sinkholes.

[mcshaggy]

08:10 PM on 11/02/2010

This just proves you cannot trust 'theories' like gravity. And evolution.

[Grim Al]

07:25 PM on 11/02/2010

I hate when that happens.