The Doorway to Hell

2 years ago People

Hole to hellPhoto: unknown

Known by many as "The Doorway To Hell", a large crater lies in the middle of nowhere (ok it's in the middle of a village called "Derweze", which is located in Turkmenistan) that's burning, and has been burning for over 35 years. It has a diameter of 50 to 100 meters. Many articles mistakenly state that this gas crater is in Uzbekistan, which is false.

hole to hellPhoto: unknown

The story behind this thing is that in the early 70s, geologists were drilling for gas and found an underground cavern by accident. The ground they were drilling on collapsed, and the cavern was open to the universe. The cavern was also filled with tons of toxic gas, so they ceased drilling for the time being.

large gas craterPhoto: unknown

The next dilemma was ridding the cavern of all that gas, before it engulfed the village sorta nearby. One of the geologists decided it would be wise to ignite the gas-ridden cavern, to burn up all the natural gas, and come back when the fire was out to finish drilling. This was back in 1971, and as we can clearly see, things do not always go as planned. The crater has been burning ever since.

uzbekistan gas craterPhoto: unknown

Sources: 1, 2, 3

Written by: ElizabethKay

Cool Links From Around the Web

Related Galleries on Environmental Graffiti

Comments

Old Comments

sapphiretiger says

Jun 9th, 2010 at 12am
Woah! That is cool! :D The first picture really does make it look like an entrance to Hell. xD

CloudNight says

May 31st, 2010 at 12am
I was joking about skydiving in this cavern the other day.

Tammy says

May 28th, 2010 at 12am
creepy considering i believe that there is a heaven and hell.

Elaine Furst says

May 26th, 2010 at 12am
Great article!...I'd hate to accidentally fall into that sucka!