The Russian city that's swallowing cars alive.

Sinkholes are mostly a natural event, but there does seem to be a plethora of them lately. They are popping down everywhere, this is the latest from the Russian city of Samara, and just this city.

Extracts from the Huff,

"According to reports from the city, residents are now living in fear of 'sinkholes', as a spate of the natural phenomena started eating cars, buses and trucks."

"Pictures from Samara document the mayhem: with countless vehicles seemingly falling into the giant craters without any warning, and leaving a trail of destruction around the city."







cars.aol.co.uk...










More pictures at the link,

Yeah, sinkholes are getting pretty bad & more frequent. You know it's getting bad when you worry about whether or not you will still have a car in the car park after you've finished your shopping and whatnot

They call those potholes here in the UP.

Originally posted by rickymouse
They call those potholes here in the UP.

Some are larger than others, however these are all apparently acts of nature, not direct human cause, and so many scattered over the city. You do sometimes get collapses in Russia in areas where there is warming on the permafrost, but this is unusual.

Originally posted by sarahlm
Yeah, sinkholes are getting pretty bad & more frequent. You know it's getting bad when you worry about whether or not you will still have a car in the car park after you've finished your shopping and whatnot

By the looks of things, you need to worry if there is even a car park when you come out.

reply to post by smurfy


When the frost breaks a water line or the mains leak here, we get some huge holes. I wonder where all that sand goes? Maybe down into the old mine shafts that are all around the cities here. I live in a mining town, moving here from another mining town a hundred miles away. I bet there are mine shafts under the Russian cities too.

Originally posted by smurfyThe Russian city that's swallowing cars alive

Well at least now i know where to send my wife's French car

You do sometimes get collapses in Russia in areas where there is warming on the permafrost, but this is unusual

Yeah, i've heard about something similar in NW Canada.

Originally posted by rickymouse
reply to post by smurfy

 

When the frost breaks a water line or the mains leak here, we get some huge holes. I wonder where all that sand goes? Maybe down into the old mine shafts that are all around the cities here. I live in a mining town, moving here from another mining town a hundred miles away. I bet there are mine shafts under the Russian cities too.

Agreed, although this picture, also Samara, appears to show a large manhole down pipe still secure, without any horizontal piping visible, so presumably still below the visible, quite rocky ground, and just a trickle of water.

lol
ever heard of siberia?
whole trucks dissapear in mud
besides russian infrastructure is a mess in the province

Originally posted by heretic013
lol
ever heard of siberia?
whole trucks dissapear in mud
besides russian infrastructure is a mess in the province

It was Siberia I was referring to in another post. This is a collapsed building in Yakutsk, the coldest city on Earth




I know the highway you refer to, much of it is an unaddressed highway, running from Moscow to Yakutsk that's a Federal highway, a different kettle of fish.

reply to post by smurfy


What a nightmare for those people! I hope nobody was injured in those mishaps. When you have aging infrastructure and melting permafrost , I guess it kind of comes as no real surprise but having to live with that danger all over the city would give me a serious case of anxiety.

Originally posted by aboutface
reply to post by smurfy

 

What a nightmare for those people! I hope nobody was injured in those mishaps. When you have aging infrastructure and melting permafrost , I guess it kind of comes as no real surprise but having to live with that danger all over the city would give me a serious case of anxiety.

There's no indication yet that aging infrastructure is the immediate cause, or that the infrastructive itself is old as per Samara, a large city.

reply to post by smurfy


i have seen similar reports from russian cities before [ though not on this scale ] - and the problem has always been municiplal utillity tunnels and drains culverts - that are ill maintained

Originally posted by ignorant_ape
reply to post by smurfy

 

i have seen similar reports from russian cities before [ though not on this scale ] - and the problem has always been municiplal utillity tunnels and drains culverts - that are ill maintained

Perhaps, but it is the scale in Samara that is unusual. I am trying to find out more on Volga river cities, (Samara is on the banks of the Volga at or near a dog leg to the south) and there are floodplains on the other side. There could be a dramatic increase of the volume and/or speed of water down the Volga causing the waters to penetrate into Samara underground.

Some more images of that Russian city that is supposedly sinking
englishrussia.com...

Originally posted by bronco73
Some more images of that Russian city that is supposedly sinking
englishrussia.com...

Thanks for those additional pictures. I see that the story's going from the point of view that the city is sinking.