Sinkholes are one of those things that sound fake until you see one randomly eat a city block.


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There are a few things that can cause a sinkhole, but in many cases in the good ol’ U.S. of A., it’s due to water issues. “Lowering of groundwater levels can cause a loss of support for the soft material in the rock spaces that can lead to collapse,” notes the state of Pennsylvania.


Sometimes, this is due to nature; other times, the problem is down to human fuckery. But no matter how it happens, it can be pretty startling, as a few Illinois soccer players learned when they turned up to play and discovered a massive hole.



In this particular case, NBC News says that the sinkhole was probably the result of an underground mine. Regardless, the video is pretty shocking: The area between two fields suddenly opens wide, sucking in a light pole and releasing a plume of what appears to be smoke.



Thankfully, no one was injured, but I’m going to guess the field’s next few soccer games are canceled. Nobody wants to be the one to retrieve their lost ball from the sinkhole.