Buzz
For as long as humans have existed, the idea of the ground abruptly splitting open beneath someone and devouring them has fascinated our collective imagination. This concept, rooted in ancient tales like the biblical account of Korah and his followers being engulfed by the earth, has led many to question whether such events could occur in reality.
Indeed, it is possible for the earth to unexpectedly consume individuals, though only under specific conditions. This list explores ten real-life incidents where people were swallowed by the ground, detailing the circumstances that led to these terrifying events. These stories serve as a stark reminder to always be mindful of our surroundings.
10. A Man Devoured by the Earth While Asleep in His Home
In February 2013, 37-year-old Jeff Bush was asleep in his Florida home when the ground beneath his bed gave way, instantly swallowing him. His brother, Jeremy Bush, was in another room and heard a loud crash, akin to a vehicle colliding with the house, followed by Jeff’s desperate cries for help. Rushing to the bedroom, Jeremy found only a massive void where the bed had once been.
Without a second thought, Jeremy leaped into the sinkhole in an attempt to rescue his brother, but it was futile. Jeff was nowhere to be seen, and Jeremy himself had to be saved as the hole expanded rapidly. Jeff’s body was never recovered from the 15-meter (50 ft) deep sinkhole. The other five family members present in the house at the time escaped unharmed.
Due to the unstable ground, the house was demolished, as were the surrounding homes. Two years later, the sinkhole reappeared in the same location, but by then, there was nothing left to be consumed. Florida is notorious for its frequent sinkhole occurrences, though it is rare for individuals to be swallowed by them.
9. A Family Plunges Into a Volcanic Crater
While volcanic eruptions are known to claim lives through lava, ash, and pyroclastic flows, craters present another deadly hazard.
In September 2017, a family of four—a couple and their two children—visited the Solfatara volcano near Naples, Italy. Reports indicate that their 11-year-old son wandered into a restricted area of the crater, prompting his parents to follow and retrieve him. Without warning, the ground gave way beneath them, opening a 3-meter (10 ft) deep crater that swallowed all three.
The family members who fell into the crater likely succumbed to asphyxiation from the toxic gases. Their seven-year-old son, who remained outside the restricted zone, survived and sought help. The area’s unstable terrain, combined with the volcano’s release of 160-degree Celsius (320 °F) water vapor, makes falling into such a crater almost invariably fatal.
8. The Collapsing Courtyard
In April 1993, a seven-year-old boy named Kwami Sharif was playing with his brother in the courtyard of a New Jersey apartment complex. While stepping into a small hole in the ground, the surface suddenly gave way, plunging him into a 2.4-meter (8 ft) deep pit filled with tree debris and a shallow pool of water at the bottom.
Kwami, conscious and alert, called for help to escape the pit. His father, neighbors, and police rushed to assist, but the unstable ground began collapsing again. Mud poured into the hole relentlessly, eventually burying the boy completely. After seven hours of excavation, Kwami’s body was recovered and taken to a hospital, where his death was officially declared.
The boy suffocated under the weight of the clay that filled the cavity. Investigations revealed that decaying roots and tree branches buried underground had hollowed out the courtyard, making it unstable. Although it was suspected that the debris had been intentionally buried, no one was held accountable for the tragic incident.
7. The Ocean Blowhole That Swallowed a Man
To clarify, a blowhole is an uncommon coastal geological feature where a hole in the ground connects directly to the ocean. Formed when waves erode cavities beneath rocky coastal terrain, these vertical vents can explosively release air and water during turbulent seas, resembling geysers. The water current through such holes is often incredibly powerful, capable of engulfing anything—or anyone—in its path.
In July 2011, a 44-year-old man was dancing near the Nakalele blowhole in Maui when a powerful water current pulled him into the hole. Witnesses watched in horror as the man briefly resurfaced with the next wave, only to disappear forever. Despite a three-day search by rescuers, his body was never recovered, and it is assumed he was swept out to sea, meeting an inevitable fate.
While blowholes are often popular tourist attractions worldwide, this incident and others like it highlight the dangers of underestimating nature’s power. These formations have claimed multiple lives, serving as a stark reminder to respect their force.
6. A Living Room Built Over a Deadly Gold Mine
Continuing with tales of homeowners being swallowed within their own homes, this incident occurred in California. One February night in 2006, Jason Chellew, a schoolteacher, was relaxing in his living room when the floor began emitting strange noises. As he stood to investigate, the ground beneath him suddenly gave way, swallowing him in an instant.
Jason’s wife, who was pregnant, remained unharmed as she was in another room. After two days of intense effort, rescuers retrieved Jason’s body from the hole. Shortly after, a second hole with similar characteristics appeared 15 meters (50 ft) away from the first.
A team of 100 experts investigated the incident and discovered that the town of Alta sits atop an extensive network of tunnels from a 19th-century gold mine. Heavy rains likely caused part of the mine to collapse beneath Chellew’s home, creating the deadly sinkhole.
5. The Earthquake That Devoured People
Cinema history is filled with movies depicting people being swallowed by the Earth during earthquakes. While such scenarios seem exaggerated, they can, under specific conditions, occur in reality. Although earthquakes don’t typically split the ground dramatically as shown on screen, certain soil conditions can cause the Earth to open up.
In 1948, a powerful earthquake, approximately magnitude 7, struck near Fukui, Japan. Local accounts describe a woman working in a rice paddy who fell into a 1.2-meter (4 ft) wide fissure that opened during the quake. The crack closed shortly after, crushing her to death. Her husband and children later found her body trapped in the crack, one hand still clutching rice plants as if she had tried to escape.
Interestingly, the devastation from the earthquake was so severe that the Japan Meteorological Agency had to expand its seismic intensity scale by one level. The disaster resulted in nearly 4,000 deaths and left tens of thousands homeless.
4. An Entire Neighborhood Plunges Into the Abyss
We’ve already explored instances of the Earth swallowing individuals inside their homes. Now, let’s take it a step further: entire neighborhoods with multiple houses and their inhabitants being consumed simultaneously. Remarkably, such events have occurred more than once.
In February 2007, residents of Guatemala City were startled by a noise resembling a bomb explosion, followed by cries of, “The electric posts are falling!” The cause? The ground beneath a neighborhood began to sink, dragging a dozen homes into a massive 100-meter (330 ft) deep hole.
Three bodies were recovered from the hole and a nearby sewage river, belonging to a family from one of the destroyed houses. Neighbors reported additional missing individuals, though this could not be confirmed. Authorities evacuated 1,000 people due to fears of further ground collapse.
The sinking was attributed to heavy rains and a ruptured sewer pipe beneath the neighborhood. This wasn’t an isolated incident; in 2010, another sinkhole opened five kilometers (3 mi) away, swallowing a three-story building, a house, and one person.
3. Quicksand That Deceived Young Girls
In September 2001, ten-year-old Chloe Foster and her 11-year-old friend Alyshia Bennett visited Charlestown Lake in England. While two other friends were gathering berries, the girls ventured into the lake, lured by what appeared to be a dry patch of land. However, as they approached, they began sinking into quicksand.
Chloe sank only to her waist, but Alyshia sank up to her chin. The two boys with them rushed to help, keeping Alyshia afloat for 15 minutes by scooping quicksand away from her mouth so she could breathe. They held her steady until firefighters arrived and rescued both girls.
This is the only story on this list where individuals survived being swallowed by the Earth. Quicksand is rarely deadly on its own, as it typically traps victims only to a certain depth. However, the depth of the quicksand and the girls’ small size nearly led to a tragic outcome.
Despite its non-lethal nature, quicksand can still be dangerous, as demonstrated by the tragic case of two Illinois teenagers whose bodies were discovered in a quicksand pit in 1997.
2. The Earth Devours an Entire City
The ancient city of Thonis-Heracleion in Egypt, rediscovered in 2000 after lying submerged for centuries, is well-known. However, the exact circumstances of its sinking remain a mystery to many.
Thonis (known as Heracleion to the Greeks) was a bustling port city on the Nile, established around the eighth century BC. A series of catastrophic events caused the city to sink beneath 10 meters (33 ft) of water by the eighth century AD.
Scientists debate whether Thonis-Heracleion’s submersion was caused by an earthquake, a series of tsunamis, or a volcanic eruption. However, many agree on one point: the city may have sunk in a single day. Built on unstable deltaic soil, sudden subterranean shifts could have caused the city to collapse within hours, partially destroying its structures.
If this is true, many residents of Thonis may not have had time to escape. The disaster likely claimed thousands of lives in the surrounding areas, with people perishing either under collapsing buildings or by drowning in the sea as the ground gave way.
After 1,200 years, Heracleion remains remarkably preserved beneath the Mediterranean Sea. This suggests that the city wasn’t destroyed by water or other forces but was instead swallowed by the Earth.
1. A Sinkhole Devours a Hotel
Sinkholes are found worldwide and, alongside landslides, represent one of the primary ways the Earth can consume people. The following case shares similarities with the Guatemalan sinkhole previously discussed.
In 1993, a parking lot beneath an Atlanta hotel collapsed, pulling three cars into the resulting pit. Two individuals in the parking lot at the time were also dragged into the sinkhole, resulting in their deaths. One body was recovered from the hole, while the other was found further away in a sewer pipe, carried by the water.
Similar to the Guatemalan sinkhole, heavy rains caused an old drainage pipe beneath the parking lot to flood and burst. This weakened the ground, creating a 60-meter (200 ft) wide sinkhole that swallowed the parking lot. Notably, authorities were aware of the risk but underestimated the severity, taking no action to prevent the disaster.
