A worker stumbled upon the chasm before dawn this week, when he was rounding up cows for milking near the North Island town of Rotorua. (Picture: Newshub)

A sinkhole just opened up on a New Zealand farm – and to say it’s large would be an understatement.

The enormous crack, which measures in at the length of two football fields, has the depth of a six-storey building.

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A worker stumbled upon the chasm before dawn this week, when he was rounding up cows for milking near the North Island town of Rotorua.

It appeared after several days of heavy rain.


Farm manager Colin Tremain told Newshub television he did not realise just how big the hole was until he saw it in daylight.

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The enormous crack, which measures in at the length of two football fields, has the depth of a six-storey building.

It appeared after several days of heavy rain. (Picture: Newshub)

He said the area often develops sinkholes due to degrading limestone rock beneath the ground’s surface.



GNS Science volcanologist Brad Scott told Newshub the sinkhole was three times larger than any he has seen before.

He said the area often develops sinkholes due to degrading limestone rock beneath the ground’s surface.

Mr Tremain is planning to install a fence so livestock do not fall into the sinkhole.

He said an underground cavity would have developed over decades.

Mr Tremain is planning to install a fence so livestock do not fall into the sinkhole.