Residents of a small provincial town in Germany has been shocked by the emergence, overnight, a huge crater, 20 meters deep with a diameter of 30 meters.

No person in the town of Schmalkalden (located 120 km from Frankfurt) was not injured, but 25 people were evacuated from six homes located around the crater and a car was "swallowed" the earth.
According to a local official quoted by CBS News, which takes Der Spiegel, between 10,000 and 12,000 cubic meters of soil collapsed. A number of garages located exactly on the edge of the crater at risk to fall into it, and the cracks appeared nearby houses.
Experts say that the appearance of the crater was caused by natural factors rather than by mining, given that the area is prone to landslides because of the geological structure.
Local authorities say the soil on the crater continues to crumble.
Peter Wolfgang, native, said he was awakened from sleep by a long and strong noise, on Monday at 3.00 pm local time. "First I heard water flowing and then sounded like it was downloaded a dozen truckloads of gravel," said Peter Wolfgang regional Thüringer Allgemeine newspaper. He left the house to see who carries out work on roads at that time of night, when he reached the edge of a huge crater, appeared next to his house.
Authorities say the locals have been fortunate to have escaped unharmed. Experts came to the scene to find the cause of esta hole and filling it with earth works, as soon as possible.

ziare.com