By Michael Snyder

In a previous article about sinkholes, I talked about a sinkhole that recently formed in Ohio that was the size of four football fields and that was more than 30 feet deep. It caused part of State Route 516 to collapse and authorities were projecting that the road would continue to stay closed for months to come.

But that is “normal”, right?

The giant Louisiana sinkhole in Assumption Parish that made headlines all over the nation last year is now more than 800 feet in diameter. It just continues to grow, and authorities have no idea when it will stop growing.

But this kind of thing happens all the time, right?

Just recently, large sinkholes forced roads to close in New Jersey and in Arizona. Of course those incidents will soon be forgotten because there are more news stories about major sinkholes in the United States almost every single day now. Giant sinkholes have been happening with such regularity that people hardly take notice anymore.

You can see some photos of some of the craziest sinkholes in recent years right here. It would be one thing if giant sinkholes were just appearing in the United States, but unfortunately that is not the case.

For instance, a sinkhole that appeared in the middle of Guatemala City in 2010 was about 30 stories deep.

Down in Sarisarinama, Venezuela some sinkholes have appeared in recent years that are more than 1,000 feet wide.

China has been one of the worst areas of the world for sinkholes over the past several years. In fact, just check out what has been happening in one village in China recently…

Residents in the village of Lianyuan in southern China’s Hunan Province have been treading rather gingerly these last few months. Over 20 sinkholes have opened up in the ground since last September. The cave-ins, which range in size, have seen houses collapse and rivers run dry. And there is never any warning as to where and when the sinkholes occur. According to local authorities, the main reason for the cave-ins is the number of coalmines in the area. It is not clear what steps are being taken to prevent further sinkholes from appearing.

I could go on and on with more examples from all over the globe, but hopefully you are starting to get the point.

Giant holes are opening up all over the earth and swallowing homes, buildings, roads and sometimes even people.

So why is this happening?

Is the crust of the earth becoming more unstable?

Or is something else at work?