A huge crater, wide enough to swallow the White House in the United States, appeared on the site
A gaping hole 32 m wide has appearedin the countryside outside the city of Tierra Amarilla, approximately 800 km north of the capital Santiago. For comparison, the width of the White House is about 26 m. The depth of the hole is about 200m, and at the bottom there is a reservoir of water, Vice reports.
The hole appeared on the site of a copper mineAlcaparrosa. No injuries or damage were reported, according to Canadian company Lundin Mining, which owns the mine. Now Chilean geologists are exploring the hole and have established a 100-meter security perimeter around the site.
Funnels are holes that form aboveareas where water collects underground without external drainage, causing the water to carve underground caves. They also regularly form near old and active mines where large amounts of rock and ore have been mined. Often, sinkholes form gradually over many years, but they can also open completely suddenly, taking away cars, houses and streets.
Cristobal Zúñiga, the mayor of Tierra Amarilla, told a local radio station that people who live near the mine "were always afraid that something like this could happen."
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