A Giant Crack in the Earth Just Appeared in Wyoming

Locals are calling it 'the gash'
By Michael Harthorne,  Newser Staff
Posted Oct 30, 2015 6:58 PM CDT
A Giant Crack in the Earth Just Appeared in Wyoming
"The gash" in Wyoming's Bighorn Mountains, as documented by SNS Outfitter & Guides.   (Facebook)

Just in time for the ancient and unspeakable ones to rise from their underground caverns on Halloween, KTVQ reports a large crack has mysteriously appeared in Wyoming's Bighorn Mountains. "Everyone here is calling it 'the gash,'" SNS Outfitter & Guides writes on its Facebook page. "It’s a really incredible sight." The local hunting company first snapped photos of the crack last week and estimates it's 750 yards long and 50 yards wide. According to CNN, the crevasse is many stories deep with a number of different levels stepping down into the earth.

"It's a pretty good size," Seth Wittke, geologic manager with the Wyoming State Geological Survey, tells ABC News. "I wouldn't say it's huge. I think there's much bigger ones that we've seen in the state. It's definitely not a small one." Wittke says state geologists haven't gotten to check out the crack in person yet—it's not urgent because it's nowhere near infrastructure or settlements—so they aren't sure when it started or if it's still moving. The geological survey is calling the phenomenon an "apparent active landslide," for which it blamed groundwater, CNN reports. (More geology stories.)

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