A sinkhole with a diameter of 32 meters and a depth of 50 meters has appeared in the Shatkovsky district of the Nizhny Novgorod region. The information about the failure of soil was received by the public safety answering point on Tuesday.
Karst funnels are a form of relief of the closed type, the most common in temperate latitudes. Funnels can vary in diameter and depth reaching several hundred meters, have a cup-shaped or deep cracks. As a rule, the formation of karst craters is associated with karst rocks.
"The failure occurred in the field of agricultural purposes, two kilometers from the nearest settlement. There are neither dead nor injured," the press service of the EMERCOM of the Nizhny Novgorod region reported.
At the moment, a fence was built around the sinkhole; the regional Department of the Ministry of Emergency Situations keeps the situation under control. Representatives of the Commission on Emergency Situations of the Shatkovsky district are working on the site. They've asked specialists of the Anti-Karst and Coastal Protection Organization for help. During the inspection, they will find out the cause of the failure. The Russian Geographical Society is following the progress made in this research.