Giant Sinkhole Swallows Up Biggest Waterfall In Ecuador

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biggest waterfall in ecuador swallowed by sinkhole, biggest waterfall in ecuador swallowed by sinkhole video, biggest waterfall in ecuador swallowed by sinkhole picture
A giant sinkhole swallowed up the biggest waterfall in Ecuador. The falls and the surrounding river basin while water still flowed on August 4, 2014 (left) and after it stopped on March 15, 2020 (right) Picture: Lauren Dauphin, using Landsat data from the U.S. Geological Survey via Earth Observatory

Surrounded by lush vegetation and rare butterflies, the San Rafael Waterfall was one of the most captivating landscapes in Ecuador.

With water dropping 150 meters (490 feet), the river and falls cut through a thick patch of cloud forest at the intersection of the Andes Mountains and the Amazon Basin.

As the country’s tallest waterfall, it attracted tens of thousands of visitors per year.

But now, the cascade has disappeared. It stopped flowing on February 2, 2020. The video below shows the exact moment when the sinkhole forms:

and just after the waterfall ran dry:

These images were acquired by the Operational Land Imager (OLI) on Landsat 8. The image below shows a photograph of the falls on November 28, 2012.

biggest waterfall in ecuador swallowed by sinkhole, biggest waterfall in ecuador swallowed by sinkhole video, biggest waterfall in ecuador swallowed by sinkhole picture
A sinkhole swallowed the San Rafael Waterfall in Ecuador. Picture: Ecuador Ministry of Tourism via CC BY-SA 2.0. via Earth Observatory

According to media reports, a huge sinkhole appeared in the Coca River a few meters before the falls and diverted the watercourse.

Now, the water falls in three separate sections and at a less steep slope, which cannot be seen from viewing stations located around the original waterfall.

Researchers believe the three streams could cause erosion at the channel’s origin and create a river upstream, which might change the topography of the valley.

The cause of the sinkhole is under investigation

Some geologists think the deformation occurred naturally, while other researchers suspect it may be tied to the new construction of the country’s largest hydroelectric plant.

No matter the cause, Ecuador’s tourism ministry does not plan to reconstruct the riverbed or restore San Rafael. The waterfall is now part of history.

But it’s not the only waterfall to have disappeared underground. The Devil’s Kettle Waterfalls in Minnesota has kept folks baffled as to where all the water goes. Another famous waterfall mysteriously disappeared OVERNIGHT in Chiapas, Mexico.

More geological oddities on Strange Sounds and Steve Quayle. [Earth Observatory]

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8 Comments

  1. Geoengineeringwatch.org
    Dane site will explain what going on worldwide
    we have a drought here in Alaska the gullies are dried up in the mountains- Little Su river is dried up onlyglacier water.we have had high winds they want to cool earth the globalists ex president want to save glaciers winds:3/28/2020,3/29/20,3/30/20 sucks up moisture and robs earth nutrients and human body of electrolytes causes back problems I know I had to walk on 2 hands like a monkey for almost a whole day. found stamina power pak with electrolytes
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    YHWH coming look up

  2. Actually some natural erosion in the geological sense of time. It actually made a new waterfall and a natural land bridge which makes it more special…

  3. To Strange Sounds,,,,,In the first video I see a face with a head wrap on in the land slide part of the mountain,,lower right hand of picture @ 37 to 44 seconds. Its as plain as day !!!!

  4. So underground they’re drilling and redirecting water. And the easiest way to have your own underground water supply is to use what is already topside rather than creating something in the underground facilities. So redirect something already existing… How else are you going to quench the thirst of those living below-ground? I know I know, you don’t even think there is something underground so this all seems whack, but there is a whole lot of stuff going underground throughout the entire world – begin your searches with known facilities and that research will take you where you will be enlightened.

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