a sinkhole forms in the middle of Rome and swallows up cars

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Italy: a sinkhole forms in the middle of Rome and swallows up cars

In Italy, the streets are sinking in several large cities, such as Naples and Rome. A friable rock would be involved.

(France 2)

In Italy, the streets are sinking in several large cities, such as Naples and Rome. A friable rock would be involved.

Two cars disappeared in a hole thirteen meters deep without causing injuries in an accident in the south-east of Rome. The residents woke up to an unpleasant surprise. “It was something really surprising. We heard this noise and then we saw the abyss”, explains a resident of the Italian city. There have already been collapses in Rome in some neighborhoods, as Italy’s capital has fragile basements.

“Possible that everything collapses at once”

Indeed, the Romans had enormous cavities under their feet whose rock sometimes crumbled in the event of heavy rain. Under the city, galleries dating back two thousand years, weakened by successive earthquakes. “We often observe landslides in ancient galleries. In the event of an earthquake, it is very possible that everything will collapse at once”, explains Stefania Nisio, geologist at ISPR in Rome. Other Italian cities are experiencing this type of collapse, such as in the parking lot of a hospital in Naples. Most of these holes occur by surprise, without prior warning.


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