The world we live in is a very powerful place. Almost weekly, we hear of a natural disaster that has happened around the globe. Some of these disasters are predictable, some are completely random and oftentimes scary. Over the past few years stories of sinkholes have grown increasingly popular. These reports are mainly coming from Florida where almost the entire state is karst terrain (made of limestone). Experts estimate thousands of sinkholes form every year in Florida alone. Here some pretty incredible pictures of sinkholes through the years.
A damaged road after a portion of it collapsed after storms, near the Palo Blanco village on Spain’s Canary island of Tenerife November 23, 2009
Local residents inspect a road that collapsed when a flash flood swept through Toowoomba, a town just west of Brisbane January 10, 2001.
Workers look into a sinkhole caused by a broken water main in Chicago, Illinois, April 18, 2013.
Rescue workers carry out the body of a victim in a road cave-in accident in Shenzhen, Guangdong province May 21, 2013.
Machinery is used to fill a sinkhole on January 28, 2013. The hole measured about 1,000 square feet across and was around 30 feet deep.
The site of a huge sinkhole which occurred overnight in Beijing on April 26, 2011.
A large sinkhole opened on East Monument Street in Baltimore in summer 2012.
The Summer Bay Resort in Clermont, Florida, Monday, August 12, 2013. Guests had only 10 to 15 minutes to escape.
A car carrying two passengers fell into a sinkhole in Baltimore on April 28, 2004.
A woman looks into a 10 foot by 10 foot sinkhole that appeared in her driveway in March 2003.
A car sits in a giant sinkhole in Minnesota. June 20, 2011.
A helicopter hovers over a sinkhole that’s 120-feet wide and 180-feet deep in a New Wales plant June 29, 1994.
Cars in a sinkhole, caused when a road collapsed into an underground cave system, in the southern Italian town of Gallipoli March 30, 2007.
March 12, 2008, This sinkhole was caused by a storm that sunk numerous boats and caused extensive damage in the Biscay area.
Bystanders look at a collapsed section of Shunwai Road in Nanchang, China’s Jiangxi province, April 25, 2007.
A sinkhole near Qingquan primary school in Dachegnqiao town of Ningxiang on June 15, 2010.
A crater, which the Libyan government said was caused by coalition air strikes, is seen at an area in Bab al-Aziziyah compound in Tripoli May 12, 2011.
A truck is in a sinkhole after part of the structure of a bridge collapsed into a river in Changchun, Jilin May 29, 2011.
The damage after a section of a road collapsed in Ostrowiec Swietokrzyski, Southern Poland December 19, 2012. The sinkhole was 33 feet deep and 164 feet wide.
Rescue workers remove a bus with a crane from a Lisbon sinkhole November 25, 2003.
A firefighter stands next to a sinkhole in Taiyuan, Shanxi, December 26, 2012.
A home sits near a sinkhole, about 100-feet wide and 50-feet deep, Saturday, May 5, 2012, in Windermere, Florida.
People stand by a sinkhole in Fukou county, Hunan province, January 12, 2013.
The debris of a residential building and a destroyed road in the village of Nachterstedt, July 18, 2009. 3 residents are still missing.
A sinkhole damaged an on-ramp to Interstate 15 in San Diego on February 24, 1998.
A tsunami hit in Nagapattinam, a town in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, December 27, 2004 causing various sinkholes.
Workers repair a sinkhole on a road in Xi’an, Shaanxi May 27, 2012.
Policemen check a sinkhole in Hefei, Anhui on August 8, 2009.
A stranded car is hoisted from a sinkhole in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, September 7, 2008.
Rescue workers on a road in Loudi, Hunan June 18, 2013. The road surface sank after a truck drove past.
Pamela Knox waits for rescue after a massive sinkhole opened up underneath her car in Toledo, Ohio on July 3, 2013. She was finally rescued with no injuries.
A tractor was swallowed by a sinkhole on Saint-Catherine Street in downtown Montreal, August 5, 2013.
A tanker fell into a sinkhole on a road in Xi’an, Shaanxi on July 27, 2013.
A view of the damaged Gran Marical de Ayacucho highway in the state of Miranda on December 1, 2010.
A giant sinkhole caused by the rains of Tropical Storm Agatha is seen in Guatemala City on May 31, 2010. More than 94,000 people were evacuated as the storm buried homes under mud, swept away a highway bridge near Guatemala City and opened up sinkholes in the capital.
These photos prove just how unpredictable Mother Nature actually can be. I would be absolutely terrified if I was near any of these massive sinkholes. Let us know your thoughts.