Tornadoes, hurricanes, and earthquakes are all natural disasters that commonly make headlines. However, sinkholes are starting to gain some notoriety in the media.

It seems that the number of sinkhole reports is on the rise. Once believed to be a purely natural phenomenon, some are starting to wonder if the increased number of sinkholes is a consequence of human activity; in particular, human overpopulation.

Just as some scientists theorize the change in hurricane and tornado activity is being caused by manmade climate change or that fracking is increasing the number of earthquakes in some areas, they are theorizing that humans are the cause of the increase number of sinkholes throughout the country; many of which are occurring in urban areas.









Not a New Phenomenon

A sinkhole is by no means a new phenomenon or one that is isolated to a particular region.

Sinkholes have occurred throughout history and across the globe. For example, a sinkhole appeared in Berezniki, Russia in 1986. (1) Since then, the monster has continued to grow, slowly devouring the mining town.

The appearance of a sinkhole relies heavily on the geologic make up of an area, allowing them to occur across the globe.

According to the USGS:

“Sinkholes are common where the rock below the land surface is limestone, carbonate rock, salt beds, or rocks that can naturally be dissolved by groundwater circulating through them.” (2)

As the dissolvable rock is eaten away by the groundwater, a cave appears. If the cave grows so large that it cannot support the surface layer above it, the cave collapses. What is left on the surface is a sinkhole.

The USGS provides a map that shows the rock types most susceptible to sinkholes are common across the United States. The USGS states:

“About 20% of our country is underlain by [dissolvable rock] and is susceptible to a sinkhole event. The most damage from sinkholes tends to occur in Florida, Texas, Alabama, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Pennsylvania.” (3)

Nevertheless, sinkholes have been reported in other states from Louisiana to Minnesota to California.