Hell's door in Turkmenistan

The Darvaza gas crater or “The Door to Hell” may be a sixty meters wide and twenty meters deep hole within the heart of the recent, expansive Karakum desert in Turkmenistan, that has been on on fireplace for the last thirty eight years. however the opening isn't of a natural origin. the massive crater may be a results of a Soviet gas exploration accident that occurred in 1971.

The Darvaza (also referred to as Derweze) space is wealthy in natural gas. whereas drilling in 1971, the Soviets accidentally tapped into an enormous underground natural gas cavern, inflicting the bottom to collapse and also the entire drilling rig to fall in. to forestall escape of toxic gas into the atmosphere, the geologists set to light-weight it on fireplace. they'd hoped the fireplace would use all the fuel in a very matter of days, however because it seems, the availability of natural gas below the crater is close to infinite because the crater’s been burning since.

On a dark night, the glow of the burning hole may be seen from miles away and also the smell of burning sulfur may be detected from a distance that becomes quite robust as you close to the recent fringe of the crater.