Well, There Goes The Neighborhood

In the town of Solikamsk, Russia, there’s a large hole swallowing a neighborhood. The main industry in the area is salt mining, and an influx of water has caused a “failure of the soil,” or in other words, a great big hole in the ground. The soil began shifting in 2005, and authorities responded by evacuating the area, cutting electricity to encourage everyone to leave; so no one lives in these houses. On Tuesday, the mines were evacuated due to shifting earth, and the hole opened up on Tuesday evening. Russian authorities are studying the scene and performing air quality tests to determine whether noxious gasses are being released.