Wednesday 28 May 2014

Sinkhole opens up beneath house in Swansea Head, New South Wales.

A three-story house in Swansea Head, New South Wales, has had to be evacuated after a sinkhole opened up beneath it on Tuesday 27 May 2014. The hole is reportedly about 10 m wide and at least 20 m deep, and was discovered by neighbours on Tuesday afternoon while the residents of the house were out; it is unclear if it opened up gradually or suddenly. 

The Swansea Heads sinkhole. Sidney Morning Herald.

Sinkhole are typically caused by the erosion of soft sediments or limestone beneath the surface, creating voids that can open up unexpectedly. However on this occasion the hole has been linked to a mining operation that formerly occupied a site now used for luxury housing, and which was abandoned in 1953. Officers from the Mine Subsidence Board suspect that the house lies on top of a former furnace shaft associated with the mine.

The approximate location of the Swansea Heads sinkhole. Google Maps.

See also...


Five homes have been evacuated following a landslide at Bilgola Beach on the Barrenjoey Peninsula in northern Sydney, New South Wales. The incident occurred early on the morning of Tuesday 13...




A house was swallowed by a giant sinkhole at Ridder in eastern Kazakhstan on Tuesday 3 April 2014. The hole, measuring roughly 50 m across and 110 m deep opened abruptly at about 2.30 pm...




A sinkhole 50 m across and 40 m deep opened up near the village of Foolow in the Peak District, Derbyshire, England, early in the morning of Monday 30 December 2013. No buildings were damaged nor any injuries reported, but a power line was broken and had to be re-routed following the event.



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