00:00If you were in Kuala Lumpur this August, you might've seen something out of a disaster
00:05movie.
00:06A group of divers, fully suited up, preparing to dive into…
00:10The Asphalt.
00:12But this wasn't fiction.
00:13It was a real-life rescue mission for a woman swallowed by a sinkhole right in the middle
00:19of the city.
00:20She was walking down the street when a 26-foot-wide hole opened beneath her feet.
00:26The entire city of Kuala Lumpur was shocked by what happened.
00:30For days, a team of over a hundred rescuers tried locating the Indian tourist, but all
00:35they found was a pair of slippers after 17 hours of searching.
00:39The city even hired divers, who went down the sewers in full scuba gear.
00:44Their reports weren't too hopeful, though.
00:46They said it was pitch black down there, and their missions would constantly be thwarted
00:50by strong currents of water and sewage.
00:55Minerals are like nature's surprise trapdoors.
00:58They happen when underground erosion, often caused by water, weakens the ground beneath
01:03us.
01:04Running underground water dissolves minerals deep within the soil, leaving gaps within
01:08the rocks.
01:09This process, known as weathering, weakens the soil a lot.
01:13Once the voids and gaps become large enough, the top surface collapses, creating a giant
01:18hole.
01:20This happens without any warning, though.
01:22The Kuala Lumpur sinkhole was just one recent example, and it wasn't even the last.
01:27A second hole opened in the same neighborhood days later.
01:31Business owners kept saying how terrible for business this was.
01:35This area of Kuala Lumpur was usually busy with tourists, but the disasters kept them
01:40away for days.
01:42Sinkholes aren't fussy about when or where they show up.
01:45Look here, this is a scene from Naples, also earlier this year.
01:50It was a typical Wednesday morning when a sinkhole suddenly opened on a quiet street,
01:54swallowing two cars in the process.
01:57One of the cars was parked, but the other had people inside.
02:01By some miracle, the passengers managed to escape with just minor injuries, but the incident
02:06shook the entire city.
02:08The mayor blamed the event on years of neglecting the city's sewer system, saying it was the
02:13poor infrastructure that had made the ground unstable.
02:16Oh, and then there's Florida, nicknamed Sinkhole Alley for some good reasons.
02:22This year, Highland City, about 40 miles east of Tampa, experienced a dramatic sinkhole
02:27event.
02:29A local named Kyle was woken up by his frantic neighbor early one morning.
02:34When he went outside, he discovered that a 60-foot-deep sinkhole had appeared in his
02:38front yard, just inches from his kid's bedroom.
02:42Kyle was terrified, especially with his little one so close to the danger zone.
02:46His house wasn't damaged, but it was a narrow escape.
02:51Sinkholes aren't new to Florida.
02:53Back in 2013, Hillsborough County saw one of the most tragic sinkhole incidents in the
02:58state's history.
02:59Jeff, the resident of a one-story home built in the 1970s, was sleeping peacefully one
03:05night when the ground beneath his house began to collapse.
03:09Within a few minutes, a sinkhole had opened, swallowing part of the house with Jeff still
03:14inside.
03:15The other five people in the house managed to escape, but he wasn't as lucky.
03:20By the time the fire department arrived, they judged it too dangerous to conduct a full-scale
03:25rescue.
03:26Sinkholes are too unpredictable, and sending heavy equipment into the area could have caused
03:30the ground to give away even further.
03:34The county was so shocked by the event that they purchased the land where the sinkhole
03:37opened plus some surrounding properties to make sure no one would ever build there again.
03:43It turned out to be a smart move, as the sinkhole reopened twice more after the initial collapse.
03:49Both times, the area was empty, so nobody got hurt.
03:53What makes Florida especially vulnerable is its unique combination of factors.
03:58Most of the ground in the state is made of carbonate rocks, like limestone, which are
04:03highly porous and erode easily.
04:05The state also experiences cycles of drought, followed by heavy rainfall, which weakens
04:10the ground even more.
04:12To top all of that, the rising sea levels mean that groundwater is rising too, which
04:17only makes matters worse.
04:19Local governments have tried to manage the situation by changing the course of underground
04:24water currents and reinforcing vulnerable areas.
04:27But sinkholes are something they can't really get rid of.
04:31I know what you're thinking – sinkholes are terrible villains.
04:34But they aren't only bad – in some cases, they become tourist attractions and even homes
04:40to unique ecosystems.
04:43This sinkhole appeared in the middle of the sea and is called the Yongle Blue Hole or
04:47the Dragon Hole.
04:49The Dragon Hole is a maritime wonder, where over 20 distinct species of fish call home,
04:55even if the water is a bit more acidic than fish tend to like.
04:59No wonder scuba divers and snorkelers love these blue waters.
05:03The Dragon Hole is 984 feet deep, and it appeared near the Parasol Islands.
05:09Scientists discovered it back in 2016, and it's believed to be the deepest blue hole
05:14in the world.
05:15A blue hole happens whenever a sinkhole forms underwater.
05:19Here's your quick science overview.
05:22Under any body of water, there is land, also known as seabeds or ocean floor.
05:27Let's say this seabed is formed by carbonate rocks such as limestone.
05:32If penetrated by water, limestone tends to dissolve in its deepest layers, allowing for
05:37the appearance of caves and cavities.
05:40This is a process that starts deep beneath the ground, making its way up to the surface.
05:45When it reaches the surface, and the so-called ceiling of the cave is frail, then bam, that's
05:50when we get an underwater sinkhole, also known as a blue hole.
05:56Another way deep holes form is through underwater chemical reactions.
06:00When the freshwater from deep beneath the soil meets the saltwater from the oceans,
06:04this can cause chemical reactions.
06:06These reactions produce weak acids that eat the bedrocks and create these huge underwater
06:11caves.
06:12The Dragon Hole is so, so deep that scientists think it was formed through a different type
06:17of process.
06:18They speculate that it was either due to tectonic activity or some other unknown geological
06:24event.
06:25There are a few other blue holes in the world, such as the Dean's Blue Hole, located in
06:30the Bahamas, or the Great Blue Hole in Belize.
06:34This last one is an extremely popular diving destination, where tourists get to explore
06:38this 480-foot deep sinkhole.
06:42But wait until you see this wild sinkhole in Brazil.
06:46Meet the Hole of Macaws, one of the biggest island sinkholes in South America.
06:51This hole is 328 feet deep, and it's also the result of limestone erosion.
06:57Its name already gives away its current function.
07:00It serves as a home to thousands of macaws from varied species.
07:04You'll see the red and blue-winged macaws flying abundantly around here.
07:08It was formed around 300 million years ago, and it's a natural reserve nowadays.
07:14The rocky walls of the sinkhole turned out to be a great shelter for the macaws.
07:19All day long, these birds fly from left to right, always accompanied by their significant
07:24other.
07:25In case you didn't know, macaws are truly monogamous, and – oh, how romantic – there
07:30are an estimated 60 couples of macaws occupying this sinkhole at the moment.
07:36One of the most fascinating sinkholes you'll find is the Bema Sinkhole in Oman.
07:41This huge structure is in a dry rocky desert and hosts a turquoise pool of water.
07:47Archeologists once believed a meteor struck the Earth to create it.
07:51This old legend ended up giving the hole its name, which translates to Falling Star in
07:56English.
07:57But it turned out that it formed naturally when the limestone below eroded away over
08:02time.
08:03This huge sinkhole is about 135 feet wide and 65 feet deep.
08:08The turquoise water is a combination of both fresh groundwater and salty seawater.
08:14And since it's so stunning, it was turned into a park.
08:18People come from all over the world to take in this surreal view.
08:22That's it for today!
08:24So hey, if you pacified your curiosity, then give the video a like and share it with your
08:28friends!
08:29Or if you want more, just click on these videos and stay on the Bright Side!
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