Re: Huge Sinkhole in Strafford, Virginia About to Swallow Homes

Posted by anascrecca on 9/20/2011, 8:30 pm

I doubt that this is a true sinkhole, which is a common erosional feature of karst topography, where the bedrock of soluble limestone erodes into a labyrinth of vertical and horizontal cavities (think kentucky, florida, etc.).  The aerial video clearly shows that this is likely a slumping of man-made fill on the house-building site. Behind the houses, one can see that the (originally) flat-lying backyards are well above grade (see the bases of the trees) of the areas further back in what was probably a ravine or some such. So it is probably simply gravity at work, more than likely aided by soaking rains, way less likely a result of quake activity. Buyers beware of buildings on terrain-altered topography!

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