Hundreds of campers were evacuated from the Inskip Point camping ground in Queensland on Saturday night after the sinkhole swallowed a car, caravan, tents and a camping trailer.
Geotechnical engineer Allison Golsby told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation on Monday that scientific reports indicate the entire peninsular could fall away.
The sinkhole is more than 200 meters wide each way and is growing.
"People have said that at some stage they think Inskip Point may not be there," she said.
"Now that could be thousands of years, it could be hundreds of years."
Golsby said the area has a history of sinkholes and should be closely monitored to warn of any further disasters.
Luckily no lives were lost when the hole suddenly appeared.
"The ideal answer is (it is) great to monitor because then we keep everybody in the right place and they won't be put in a position like that," she said.
Campsites on near the sinkhole will stay closed until further assessment.
Xinhua - china.org.cn
28/9/15
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ReplyDeleteAbout 200 meters of beachfront and 50 meters of a popular campground at Inskip Point gave way late on Saturday night, creating a 7.5-meter-deep cavity.
A Queensland government said on Tuesday said that the event may have been a "near-shore landslide" rather than a sinkhole.
A caravan, four-wheel-drive camper-trailer and tents were devoured by the hole but despite the campgrounds being packed with school-holiday-makers, no one was injured.
The hole grew by around a meter on Tuesday and may continue to expand in the coming weeks.
"Advice is that the event has likely passed, with the site now relatively stable with a flat beach edge forming," the statement issued by the Department of National Parks said.
http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/945112.shtml
29/9/15