Gigantic sinkholes hundreds of feet deep have been opening up throughout Turkey, mirroring a biblical prophecy.
The Book of Numbers, Chapter 6, describes the earth opening up and swallowing people as divine punishment for rebellion, a connection that some are drawing after the massive collapses in the Konya Plain, a key wheat-growing region.
Many have interpreted the growing phenomenon as a sign that 'God is on the move.'
However, scientists point to far more earthly causes. Turkey's Disaster and Emergency Management Authority has reported 648 massive sinkholes in the Konya Plain, primarily the result of severe drought and excessive groundwater pumping.
Researchers at Konya Technical University have discovered more than 20 new sinkholes in the past year alone, adding to the nearly 1,900 sites already mapped by 2021 where the ground was slowly sinking or starting to cave in.
Before 2000, only a handful of sinkholes appeared each decade, but climate change and prolonged drought are blamed for the dramatic increase over the past 25 years.
Today, dozens of enormous collapses occur annually, some more than 100 feet wide.
Falling groundwater tables are driving the problem, causing drier wells, stressed ecosystems, dwindling crops, and land subsidence. Farmers pumping more water to save sugar beet and corn crops are further exacerbating the situation.
Scientists warn that similar risks could emerge in parts of the US, Asia, the Middle East, the Mediterranean, and Australia, where declining groundwater levels threaten communities and ecosystems.
A massive sinkhole in Turkey. Researchers have discovered nearly 700 similar-sized openings in the country's Konya Plain caused by drought and groundwater pumping
Turkey Today reported that some farmers have already lost crops or had to abandon fields deemed too dangerous
According to NASA's Earth Observatory, Turkey's water reservoirs reached their lowest levels in 15 years in 2021.
The groundwater table in parts of Konya has dramatically dropped over the past few decades, according to Turkish geological studies.
The same issues are plaguing the US, with major declines seen in the Great Plains, Central Valley and Southeast.
Parts of Texas, Florida, New Mexico, and Arizona could be affected by major sinkholes if drought conditions worsen and groundwater pumping is not carefully regulated.
The US Drought Monitor noted that pockets of Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Utah, Colorado, and Wyoming have also reached this severe level of drought.
Massive sinkholes form in drought-ridden areas when farmers and cities pump massive amounts of groundwater from limestone rock layers to survive the dry years, emptying the underground caves that were once filled with water.
When that water support vanishes, the cave roofs collapse, creating huge holes that swallow farmland and roads overnight, just like in Turkey and parts of Texas, Arizona, and New Mexico.
The sinkholes in Turkey (Pictured) have opened up near many farms, which have been battling drought conditions believed to be intensified by climate change
In the US, scientists have warned of an 'unprecedented 21st century drought risk' in the Southwest and Central Plains.
Over the last decade, multiple studies have forecasted 'severe and persistent drought' conditions through the year 2100.
Currently, the nation's Drought Monitor system found that the worst conditions in 2025 were found along the US-Mexico border in western Texas, measuring at 'D4' - the most severe drought rating.
Several other regions in northern Florida and southern Georgia, New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, and Utah were all graded in December 2025 as being in severe drought (D2) or extreme drought (D3).
US officials have revealed that several areas of the Southwest are at risk of similar sinkholes as severe drought conditions worsen in the coming century
In Upton County, Texas, a massive sinkhole formed around an abandoned 1950s oil well near McCamey, measuring about 200 feet wide and 40 feet deep in March.
In southeastern Arizona's Cochise County, land subsidence (ground sinking) from groundwater pumping has led to multiple fissures and sinkholes this year.
These sinkholes have varied from 10 to 30 feet across, with local areas reportedly sinking by more than six inches per year across hundreds of acres, creating pockets of unstable ground in farming areas.
In southern New Mexico, a 30-foot-deep sinkhole opened in May 2024 near homes in Las Cruces, swallowing two cars and forcing nearby homes to evacuate.
Officials cited unstable soil from recent droughts as the key factor, though no statewide pumping cutbacks were enacted in response.
In Texas, over 100 public water systems have imposed restrictions on groundwater pumping this year, as new drought rules have limited groundwater pumping for agriculture and in cities across central Texas.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-15378719/Ominous-warning-sinkholes-Turkey.html
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