![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blogs.agu.org\/landslideblog\/files\/2010\/11\/10_10-sinkhole-11.jpg\")
<\/a> A sinkhole in Germany<\/strong><\/p>\nThanks to a host of people for bringing the development last night of a sinkhole in the town of Schmalkalden in central Germany to my attention.\u00a0 These feature has been caught in a spectacular set of images, of which the one to the left is a good example, available in a gallery on the Der Spiegel website<\/a>.<\/p>\n The sinkhole, which reportedly is 30 metres in diameter and 20 metres deep, opened up at 3 am (local time) this morning.\u00a0 No-one has been injured or killed, although the owner of the property may have some trouble getting his\/her cars out of the garage for a while.\u00a0 Note the cracks in the road near to the hole by the way.<\/p>\n Most sinkholes of this type result from one of two different processes.\u00a0 Some are the result of solution of soluble rocks, such as limestone or salt.\u00a0 The rest are usually the result of the collapse of shallow excavations, usually old mines but sometimes metro train workings or suchlike.\u00a0 In this case, “In the middle ages, artisans and craftsmen benefited from the iron ore deposits in the mountains of the Th\u00fcringer forests…The wealth of the iron ore deposits, the mining thereof and the working of the extracted iron into handmade goods helped to establish the town and its economic future and carried it through well into the next century and beyond…Mining and production continued even after the Second World War when Schmalkalden belonged to the Deutsche Democratic Republic (DDR)<\/em>.”<\/p>\n 2. A landslide in Italy<\/strong><\/p>\n Meanwhile, in Italy last night a landslide occurred in the town of Massa in Tuscany, killing a two year old boy and his mother.\u00a0 There are a couple of photos here<\/a>, if you excuse the appalling headline to the article (the Daily Mail makes me feel embarrassed to be British).<\/p>\n Across the Atlantic, Hurricane Tomas continues its westward movement.\u00a0 Tropical Storm Risk<\/a> is continuing to forecast that it will veer northwards in a few days time (see image), producing a track that will see it passing directly over the earthquake-affected areas of Haiti.\u00a0 The caveat here is of course the inaccuracy of track forecasts, especially where a dramatic change in direction is included.\u00a0 Fortunately, it is now considered less likely that it will intensify as much as feared, but even a category 1 storm has the potential to have very major consequences in this area.\u00a0 There is now a real need to start planning for this event; fortunately the media are now reporting<\/a> that such a response has been initiated.\u00a0 Let’s hope that this time there is a plan that will allow assistance to be quickly delivered should the worst case scenario occur.<\/p>\nthis article<\/del> (editor’s note: link expired) appears to point to a potential cause:<\/p>\n<\/a>3. Hurricane Tomas<\/strong><\/p>\n