August
09
/ 2022
An enormous sinkhole that appeared on a plot of mining land in Chile’s Atacama Desert region has continued to grow. The gigantic cavity was first seen on July 30 in a rural area outside the town of Tierra Amarilla, 413 miles (665 kilometers) north of the capital, Santiago, where the Canadian company Lundin Mining operates the Alcaparrosa copper mine. It measured 82 feet (25 meters) in diameter and 650 feet (200 meters) in depth and now measures 160 feet across (50 meters). The cause of its occurrence is yet to be determined and is being investigated. The startling phenomenon has been described variously by different news agencies as a sinkhole “large enough to swallow France’s Arc de Triomphe” ( New
