November 2nd, 2010
10:24 AM ET

Giant sinkhole opens in Germany

Repairs are to begin Wednesday on a 65-foot-deep (20 meters) sinkhole that opened in the eastern German town of Schmalkalden on Monday, local authorities said.

The sinkhole, which measured more than 130 feet (40 meters) across, swallowed a car and forced the evacuation of 25 people in nine houses, the regional newspaper Thueringer-Allgemeine reported.

Officials told the paper more than 1,000 truckloads of gravel would be needed to fill the hole.

Residents reported hearing a loud roar as the earth gave way early Monday morning, according to the newspaper report. The cause of the sinkhole had not been determined.

JĂĽrgen Reinholz, environment and agriculture minister for the state of Thuringia, said natural causes were suspected, according to Spiegel Online International.

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Filed under: Germany • World
soundoff (285 Responses)
  1. kev

    looks like a locust dry run, emergence days coming, grab your lancers people!!!

    November 4, 2010 at 6:13 am | Report abuse |
  2. dina

    i hope no one got heart.

    November 4, 2010 at 8:26 am | Report abuse |
  3. Steve

    Come on... someone's gotta say it... IT'S OBAMA'S FAULT.

    November 4, 2010 at 8:38 am | Report abuse |
  4. TampaMike

    Sinkholes happen in Florida all the time. The primary cause here is lower groundwater (aquifers) levels can no longer support the gound above, which then collapses.

    November 4, 2010 at 9:31 am | Report abuse |
  5. Rick

    I thought they were talking about Kim Kardashians azz....

    November 5, 2010 at 6:22 pm | Report abuse |
  6. Rick

    Or they are talking of Mrs Obamas rump.

    November 5, 2010 at 6:40 pm | Report abuse |
  7. Webbhotell

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    April 20, 2011 at 6:09 am | Report abuse |
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