Earth’s most terrifying holes from 40,000ft Soviet ‘well to hell’ to Mexico’s mysterious 500ft-wide blue ‘sea sinkhole’
Earth’s most terrifying holes from 40,000ft Soviet ‘well to hell’ to Mexico’s mysterious 500ft-wide blue ‘sea sinkhole’
The Sun has rounded up some majorly scary holes from around the world that you would absolutely not want to fall into.
Mexico’s Taam Ja’ Blue Hole
If you’re scared of deep holes and the ocean, this is not the sinkhole for you.
Taam Ja’ Blue Hole can be found in Mexico’s Chetumal Bay.
It’s an underwater sinkhole, known as a “blue hole” – and is believed to be the deepest of its kind.
The giant hole is 498 feet wide and was only discovered by a diver in 2003.
It’s estimated to be more then 1,380 feet deep, which is frankly terrifying.
Turkmenistan’s fiery ‘Gates of Hell’
Okay, so the Gates of Hell isn’t the official name for this hole, but it’s appropriate given that it’s been burning for decades.
The Darvaza gas crater is located in Turkmenistan, and is effectively a huge fiery pit.
It’s a natural gas field that has collapsed into a crater, and the supply of gases keeps the fire raging.
The origins of the pit are unclear, but it’s believed that the pit was set on fire to prevent gas emissions.
In 2022, then-President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow of Turkmenistan announced a plot to extinguish the crater.
But the crater remains ablaze to this day, and has become a tourist attraction.
The crater is around 230 feet wide and 98 feet deep, so it’s not the biggest hole on this list – but it’s still very terrifying.
Soviet ‘Well to Hell’
The official name for the so-called “well to hell” is the Kola Superdeep Borehole SG-3 – but that’s not as catchy.
It’s currently the deepest man-made hole on Earth, reaching a dizzying 40,230 feet below ground.
This drilling was part of a scientific effort to research deep parts of the Earth’s crust, with the maximum depth reached in 1989.
Several boreholes were drilled to depths greater than 20,000 feet as part of the programme, but none delved so far down as the “well to hell”.
Drilling of the hole began in May 1970 and ended in 1992, with recorded temperatures reaching 180C.
The hole is just nine inches wide so you won’t fall in.
But if you did, it would take around four minutes to fall all the way to the bottom.
And if you were worried you might drop your phone in, don’t panic: it’s sealed up with a rusty metal lid. Phew.
Devil’s Sinkhole in Texas
Devil’s Sinkhole is a massive cavern near Rocksprings in Texas, United States.
It’s opening stretches 60 feet across, and falls away into a 400-foot-deep cavern.
The cavern is believed to have been known to Native Americans, although it was only formally “discovered” by a local rancher in 1876.
It’s now known as a prominent bat habitat, homing millions of Mexican free-trailer bats.
They typically emerge at sunset between the months of April and October each year.
It was declared a National Natural Landmark by the National Park Service in 1968.
And the area has been open to the public since 1992 – although you need to reserve your entry in advance.
