ADVERTISEMENT
These are some of the most dramatic sinkholes around the world
From swallowed streets to gaping craters, these photos capture some of the most dramatic sinkholes that have opened up around the world in recent years.
Published:
Image 0 of 50
Aerial view of a massive 100-metre-deep sinkhole caused after a collapse in the sewage system in the neighbourhood of San Antonio, Guatemala City, on February 23, 2007. (Orlando Sierra/AFP via Getty Images)
Aerial view taken on August 1, 2022, showing a large sinkhole that appeared over the weekend near the mining town of Tierra Amarilla, in the Atacama Desert in Chile. (Johan Godoy/AFP via Getty Images)
A farmer plants grain with a tractor in a field in Konya, Turkiye, where eight sinkholes of varying sizes and depths have formed over the past decade, on November 14, 2024. (Serhat Cetinkaya/Anadolu via Getty Images)
A 30-metre-wide sinkhole, caused by a nearby mine collapsing, swallowed part of a soccer field in Alton, Ill., on June 26, 2024. (618 Drone Service via Storyful)
View of a huge crater caused by tropical storm Agatha, in Guatemala City, on June 3, 2010. (Johan Ordonez/AFP via Getty Images)
A water-filled sinkhole grows on a farming field in Zacatapec, Mexico, Tuesday, June 1, 2021. Authorities say an underground river is responsible. (Hector Vivas/Getty Images)
A part of a road in Bangkok collapsed on Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2025, leaving a large sinkhole that disrupted traffic, damaged infrastructure and prompted evacuations in the surrounding area. (Anusak Laowilas/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
In the early hours of Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2016, a massive sinkhole opened up in Fukuoka, Japan, swallowing part of the road near the city’s railway station, and threatening to bring down nearby buildings. (STR/JIJI PRESS/AFP via Getty Images)
A 10-metre-wide sinkhole covers an intersection in downtown Mexico City, Thursday, Aug. 31, 2017. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)
View of a giant sinkhole on the main road in Villa Nueva, Guatemala, Tuesday, Sept. 27, 2022. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)
This aerial photo shows a sinkhole in the village of Mecencani, Croatia, on Thursday, March 4, 2021. The central region was left pocked with circular holes of all sizes after a 6.4-magnitude earthquake in December killed seven people and caused widespread destruction. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)
A large sinkhole opened next to the police department in Hinton, West Virginia, in November 2022. (West Virginia Department of Transportation/CNN)
Prized cars lie in a sinkhole that opened up at the Skydome showroom in the National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green, Ky. on Feb. 12, 2014. (Michael Noble Jr./AP)
Several vehicles fell into a sinkhole at an Infiniti dealership in Edmonton on Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2022. (Evan Klippenstein/CTV News Edmonton)
A massive sinkhole that opened in Oxford, Nova Scotia, in August 2018 swallowed several large trees and raised concerns about the stability of the surrounding area. (The Canadian Press/HO-Sean Whalen Photography)
Two cars lie in a large sinkhole that opened on January 10, 2023, in the Chatsworth neighbourhood of Los Angeles, California. (Robyn Beck/AFP via Getty Images)
In this image taken with drone, vehicle is stuck in a sinkhole in the Chatsworth section of Los Angeles, Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2023. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Workers inspect a sinkhole in Philadelphia, Monday, Jan. 9, 2017. The Philadelphia Water Department said a water main break caused the sinkhole to open up on the street. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
Water fills a large sinkhole that opened on Rideau Street next to the Rideau Centre mall in Ottawa on Wednesday, June 8, 2016. (The Canadian Press/Justin Tang)
Water splashes as soil collapses into a large sinkhole that formed on Rideau Street next to the Rideau Centre Mall on Wednesday, June 8, 2016 in Ottawa. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang
This aerial view shows a large sinkhole after it appeared in a field by Shardeloes Lake on May 16, 2023, in Amersham, U.K. (Jim Dyson/Getty Images)
People gather around a huge sinkhole in the village of Sanica, Bosnia, Thursday, Nov. 21, 2013. (AP Photo/Amel Emric)
Residents in Godstone, U.K., were forced to evacuate their homes after a massive sinkhole opened on February 19, 2025, swallowing sections of the main road and stretching dangerously close to nearby houses. (Carl Court/Getty Images)
An aerial view shows a sinkhole that appeared on the AFC Wimbledon football pitch after heavy rain on September 24, 2024, in London, U.K. (Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)
An aerial view of a massive sinkhole, 100 meters deep and covering more than 30,000 square meters, that formed as a result of the land subsidence on the main road of Pondok Balik village in Ketol district, Indonesia on February 17, 2026. (Risky Cahyadi/Anadolu via Getty Images)
A motorcyclist who fell into a cavernous sinkhole that opened on a Seoul street, outside a plant shop on March 25, 2025, was found dead after an overnight search, officials in South Korea’s capital said. (Anthony Wallace/AFP via Getty Images)
View of a 13-metre-deep sinkhole at Nant Morlais on December 11, 2024, in Merthyr Tydfil, Wales. (Matthew Horwood/Getty Images)
Aerial view of erosions in the small Amazonian town of Buriticupu, Brazil, on April 21, 2023. (Nelson Almeida/AFP via Getty Images)
Waterways engineers inspect an area where two boats remain within a large "sinkhole" which breached a canal in the Chemistry area of Whitchurch, U.K., Jan. 13, 2026. (Jacob King/PA Images via Getty Images)
Police and firefighters respond after two vehicles fall into a sinkhole on Pacific Street just east of 67th Street in Omaha on Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2026. (Chris Machian/Omaha World-Herald via AP)
Two vehicles fell into a sinkhole on Pacific Street just east of 67th Street in Omaha on Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2026. (Chris Machian/Omaha World-Herald via AP)
An aerial view shows the Obruk Kervansaray Museum Hotel, which is located next to the Kizoren Obruk sinkhole in Turkiye. Photo taken on October 09, 2024. (Serhat Cetinkaya/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Yellow caution tape surrounds a sinkhole in Leominster, Mass., Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2023. (AP Photo/Michael Casey)
People stand near a sinkhole in a condominium complex in La Habra, Calif., Friday, March 17, 2023. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
A San Francisco Public Utilities Commission worker stands over a large sinkhole on Sacramento Street in San Francisco, Friday, April 22, 2016. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
Maintenance personnel look at a large sinkhole on Kane Drive in Gresham, Ore., Wednesday, Dec. 9, 2015. (AP Photo/Steve Dipaola)
Cars sit on the edge of a sinkhole in the Charles Village neighbourhood of Baltimore, Wednesday, April 30, 2014, as heavy rain moves through the region. (AP Photo)
Officials survey a gaping sinkhole that opened up a residential street on Chicago's South Side after a cast iron water main dating back to 1915 broke during a massive rain storm, Thursday, April 18, 2013, in Chicago. The hole spanned the entire width of the road and chewed up grassy areas abutting the sidewalk. Two of the cars that disappeared inside had been parked, but a third was being driven when the road buckled and caved in. Only the hood of one of the vehicles can be seen peeking from the chasm.(AP Photo/M. Spencer Green)
A section of a car can be seen in a gaping sinkhole that opened up a residential street on Chicago's South Side after a cast iron water main dating back to 1915 broke during a massive rain storm Thursday, April 18, 2013, in Chicago. (AP Photo/M. Spencer Green)
A backhoe is seen on August 6, 2013 after it was swallowed by a sinkhole in Montreal. (The Canadian Press/Graham Hughes)
This aerial view shows a large sinkhole as workers try unsuccessfully to retrieve sunken sports cars from the depression in Winter Park, Fla., May 11, 1981. (AP Photo)
City of Vancouver and Metro Vancouver District officials survey the damage caused by a large sinkhole that developed on Marine Drive on December 13, 2010. (The Canadian Press/Richard Lam)
Ciy of Vancouver and Metro Vancouver District officials survey the damage caused by a large sinkhole that developed Sunday on Marine Drive in Vancouver, Monday, December 13, 2010. They are still trying to determine the exact cause of the sinkhole which will take several days to repair. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Richard Lam
A Cadillac Escalade sits at the bottom of a sinkhole in Milwaukee, Wis. on Friday, July 23, 2010. (AP Photo/Mark Was)
Los Angeles firemen watch as a fire truck is pulled from a sinkhole in the North Hollywood section of Los Angeles on Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2009. (AP Photo/Nick Ut)
John Sparkman is dwarfed as he looks into a sinkhole near Picher, Okla., Saturday, April 6, 2008. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
View of the area where a sinkhole formed, causing two vehicles to sink east of Guadalajara, Mexico, on July 4, 2025. (ULISES RUIZ/AFP via Getty Images)
In the Vomero neighbourhood of Naples, where two cars, one parked and the other in transit, were engulfed by a large sinkhole that opened in the San Martino area. (Salvatore Laporta/KONTROLAB/LightRocket via Getty Images)
Emergency crews work on removing a big rig truck stuck in a sinkhole in San Francisco, May 5, 2017. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)