Pasvalys district sinkhole sets width record and continues growing

A record-sized sinkhole has opened near Saločiai in Pasvalys district, measuring about 23 metres across and more than eight metres deep, LRT reports.

The sinkhole formed beside the Via Baltica road and is still expanding. Its edges are continuing to develop and water has appeared inside, making its exact depth difficult to determine.

“It is still a living sinkhole and is continuing to form. In terms of width, it is one of the largest sinkholes I have ever seen,” said Povilas Balčiūnas, director of the Pasvalys district municipality administration.

This is the second unusually large sinkhole to open near Saločiai. The first appeared about a decade ago in front of the town’s school. It was about 10 metres wide and 18 to 20 metres deep, and swallowed a utility pole together with its support, making it the deepest sinkhole in the area. The new sinkhole is wider.

The new collapse has been fenced off for safety. However, local residents are accustomed to such incidents, Balčiūnas said, recalling cases in which a storage shed fell into a sinkhole, a sinkhole opened after a passing bus struck the ground with a wheel, and a house had to be demolished after part of it sank.

Sinkholes in Pasvalys tend to open in the town, beneath residential buildings and streets. In Biržai, they are more commonly found in fields and forests. Thirty-one new sinkholes have opened in Biržai this year, while the region has about 10,000 in total.

Some sinkholes are filled in, while others are preserved as visitor attractions. Kęstutis Baronas, an adviser at Biržai Regional Park, said they should only be filled when they pose a danger to people, buildings, roads or other structures.

The sinkhole near Saločiai is on state-owned land. After geologists assess it, authorities also plan to turn it into a visitor attraction.