Geologists study massive Land O’ Lakes sinkhole

Published:
Aerial view of a giant sinkhole that opened up in a Land O’ Lakes, Florida, neighborhood on July 14, 2017. WTSP

LAND O’LAKES, Fla. (AP) Geologists are studying a massive Florida sinkhole that destroyed two homes and rendered five others uninhabitable in hopes of trying to determine how to prevent such calamities.

Experts might ever know exactly what caused Pasco County’s largest sinkhole in decades, but a team of University of South Florida researchers have descended upon Lake Padgett to learn as much as they can about what happened.

The Tampa Bay Times writes that geologists want to know if anything might have predicted the devastation, including the way the neighborhood was developed.

The sinkhole opened July 14 in a suburb north of Tampa called Land O’Lakes. It now stretches about 260 feet (79 meters) at its widest point.

There have been 336 reports of sinkhole activity in Land O’Lakes since the county started keeping track in 2003.

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