Since late April, more than 30 sinkholes have appeared in China. Heavy rains and karst topography have been blamed for most of the formations. Most are between 8 and 300 meters wide and their depth ranges from 6 to 25 meters.
Beijing Review reports, "In Changning County in southwest China's Sichuan Province, 26 sinkholes formed within one week beginning on April 27, Sichuan News Network reported on May 3. The largest one is 60 meters in diameter and 40 meters deep. About 290 nearby residents have been evacuated from the area, according to local authorities."
One sinkhole opened in front of an elementary school and swallowed the playground. The Huffington Post reports. "The sinkhole started to yield in mid-January, at first forming a hole twenty meters in diameter. Intense springtime rainfall has since accelerated the hole's expansion, which has, in turn, caused damage to area buildings."
Recent sinkholes in China have lacked the depth of the recent Guatemala sinkhole. China does boast an extremely deep sinkhole. It is a tourist attraction and a trail of stairs leads to a cave at the bottom. One of the gallery photos shows base jumpers skydiving into the sinkhole. The recent sinkhole in Canada was due to a land -flow. it is proportionately wider than the deeper pits that have opened in China since late April.
Since late April, heavy rains have caused more than 30 sinkholes to appear in China. Scientists believe that more are likely to appear due to karst topography and flooding.
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