Holey Toledo - Two Dangerous Sinkholes in One Month

Amanda Warren

Something strange is befalling Toledo, Ohio. Actually, people are literally falling into Toledo.

In early July, on the 3rd, Pamela Knox age 60 was driving on Detroit Ave. and Bancroft in downtown Toledo when she noticed the road before her caving in. The car in front of her just barely made it over the growing chasm but there was no time for her before she found herself 10 feet below the road in a 15ft wide hole. Parts of the road fell onto her car, water spewed out from a broken line.



You may be familiar with the footage above because it made national news. The incident was blamed on an outdated sewer line below the road that may have washed away the foundation. That doesn't, however, explain why there was a second sinkhole nearby in the same month. 

Huge Area of Sea Floor Movement Off Iberian Coast

Chris Carrington

Continental Europe has started to move towards the United States as a new subduction zone forms off the Portuguese coast. This is the start of a cycle that will see the Atlantic Ocean reduce in size and finally close as what scientists refer to as a ‘passive margin’ becomes active.

A subduction zone is an area where one of the plates that cover the Earths’ surface is driven underneath the plate it is colliding into. Such faults are known to produce mega-thrust earthquakes when they get stuck and then slip allowing massive pressure to be released.

The Indonesian quake of 2004 was caused by the subduction of the Indian Plate under the Burmese Plate and the Japanese quake of 2011 was caused by the subduction of the Pacific Plate under the Okhotsk Plate.