Texas Sinkhole

The southeast Texas town of Daisetta is the site of a massive sinkhole estimated at 900 feet long and 260 feet deep. It could be months before it's known if surrounding areas are stable.

The sinkhole which started as big cracks in the road has swallowed vehicles, telephone poles, trees and oil field equipment.

The black liquid that partially fills the hole is believed to be oil or oilfield sludge. HazMat officials have been sent to the area.

Daisetta is a small town about 60 miles northeast of Houston and was once a boomimg oil town but now has only 1,000 residents.

Daisetta sits atop a salt dome, a place where oil brine and natural gas are stored underground. The ground is thought to have caved in due to a collapse of the salt dome causing a giant sinkhole.

The most damaging sinkholes tend to occur in Alabama, Florida, Kentucky, Missouri, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Texas where salt beds, limestone, and carbonate rock, are common.