Michel A. Bouchard, a professor of geology at the University of Montreal, said the area around St. Jude rests on an unusual variety of “sensitive clay” that was originally the bed of an ancient sea. Lake Champlain is a remnant of the sea.
Because the clay formed in salt water, Professor Bouchard said, the molecular structure of its particles resembles playing cards arranged as an unstable house of cards, rather than stacked in a deck, as occurs with clay formed in fresh water. A variety of events can break the molecular bonds holding the clay particles together. When that occurs, the clay can spontaneously liquefy with little or no provocation.
“Even a fly landing on the surface can set it off,” he said.
Just sitting there Simpsons style and your fucking house is sucked into a demon pit, and your entire family is killed in an instant.
What. The. Fuck.
via Family Of Four Dies In Sinkhole After Yard Silently Liquefies – The Consumerist.
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A fly landing on it can set it off, but sure, let’s zone it for residential construction, you can build all sorts of shit there.
well. that seems like a pretty shitty way to die.
Greed and ignorance: The killer of man. And even though we live in “civilization” mother nature is all about showing who is boss. No matter where you live.
Sad, tragic and a stupid way to end up dead.