How to Survive an Opening Sinkhole

[Music] what's that sound the pipes in your basement creak and groan the floor starts to tremble and shake cracks start to form and crawl up your walls is an earthquake happening you drop down on the ground and crawl under a table all of a sudden the ground beneath you starts to slump and collapse before you have time to react a giant sinkhole swallows everything in sight here's how to survive falling into a sinkhole sinkholes are craters in the ground that form when water dissolves the rock layer underneath the soil sinkholes can create small ponds or cause the ground to dip in most cases these sinkholes aren't dangerous since they form slowly but you don't want to find yourself standing above a cover collapse sinkhole they happen when there's a layer of clay between the surface and the bedrock water seeps in and slowly wears away the clay creating a cavern when that layer caves in everything above it is swallowed into the earth so what can you do if you fall into a sinkhole how much time would you have to react and why might trying to climb out be a bad idea step one look for warning signs the best way to survive falling into a sinkhole is not to fall in one sinkholes tend to show plenty of warning signs before they start to become dangerous watch out for cracks in building foundations walls or sidewalks take a look outside as well when a sinkhole forms water will start pooling on the ground trees and fence posts will start to tilt or fall over and vegetation might wilt and die due to the sinkhole draining away water if you notice these signs find out if you live in an area that's susceptible to sinkholes ask a geologist or soil engineer if your house is at risk if it is a professional can inject grout into the hole to reinforce the foundation but what if you aren't able to see these signs until it's too late step two brace yourself by the time that cracks start rapidly appearing you may only have seconds to get out before the ground collapses if you do get caught in the sinkhole brace for impact the size of a sinkhole ranges from one meter to hundreds of meters in diameter and depth cover your head tuck your knees with your legs together and fall on your side rolling backward this is called the parachute landing fall it evenly distributes the shock of impact across your body the last thing you'd want to do is land flat on your back or head ouch okay you've survived the impact but now you're trapped deep in the sinkhole what can you do from down here step 3 find a safe spot if you can try to move towards the middle of the hole but don't stretch out and relax anything above you could still fall stay low and small see if there's anything you can grab onto the ground around you is probably unstable and could sink even further wait until you're on steady ground and it's safe to move then you can start making your escape step four assess the situation take a look at your surroundings is there any water filling the sinkhole do you have your cell phone to call for help is the hole small enough to climb out of if the hole is too deep you probably shouldn't try to climb out there's a good chance that anything you climb onto is loose not only that but climbing could cause more of the debris to fall from above in this case your best bet is to call for help and wait now your entire house might be destroyed but luckily you got out of this mess in one piece pay attention look for the signs of a sinkhole if you do happen to fall into one use the parachute landing fall find a safe spot and call for help don't try to climb out now what if that trembling turned out to be an earthquake well we'll show you what to do on another episode of how to survive don't forget to follow us if you like this episode and if you are in danger or think you have an emergency call your doctor an ambulance or the police immediately

Channel: How to Survive

Views: 2,283,293

Keywords: survive, how to survive, survival, survivalguide, what if, science, natural disasters, how to survive an opening sinkhole, opening sinkhole, sinkhole, life hacks, survival tips, survival guide, guide how to survive, tips how to survive, science videos, survival videos, survival rules, what to do in case of falling into a sinkhole, documentaries, possible scenario, videos how to survive, dangerous situations, survive hacks, 2020, ridddle

Id: 3argaVh34hs

Length: 5min 15sec (315 seconds)

Published: Wed Jul 22 2020