MANILA, Philippines — Massive sinkholes, some plunging hundreds of feet into the ground, are tearing through central Turkey’s Konya Plain, unsettling farming communities and igniting online speculation that the phenomenon fulfills a biblical prophecy.
On social media, some users have cited a passage from the Book of Numbers describing the earth opening and swallowing people as divine punishment for rebellion. The imagery has resonated as vast craters suddenly appear in one of Turkey’s most important wheat-producing regions, prompting claims that “God is on the move.”
Scientists, however, say the explanation lies not in scripture but beneath the soil.
A landscape collapsing from below
Turkey’s Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) has recorded at least 648 large sinkholes across the Konya Plain, most linked to prolonged drought and excessive groundwater extraction.
Researchers from Konya Technical University identified more than 20 new sinkholes in the past year alone, adding to nearly 1,900 sites already mapped by 2021 where the ground was sinking or beginning to cave in.
Before 2000, sinkholes in the region were rare, appearing only a few times per decade. Over the past 25 years, their numbers have surged dramatically. Today, dozens of collapses occur annually, some measuring more than 100 feet wide, transforming farmland into unstable terrain overnight.
Scientists attribute the increase to a deadly combination: climate change-driven drought and aggressive pumping of groundwater to sustain agriculture.
Farming under pressure
As rainfall declines, groundwater levels in Konya have dropped sharply. Wells are drying up, ecosystems are under stress, and farmers are drilling deeper to save water-intensive crops such as sugar beets and corn—ironically accelerating the collapse of the land beneath them.
Local media report that some farmers have already lost entire harvests or abandoned fields deemed too dangerous to work.
Data from NASA’s Earth Observatory show that Turkey’s water reservoirs reached their lowest levels in 15 years in 2021. Geological studies confirm that groundwater tables in parts of Konya have fallen dramatically over recent decades.
Not just Turkey’s problem
Experts warn that what is happening in Turkey mirrors risks emerging across the globe.
Parts of the United States, Asia, the Middle East, the Mediterranean, and Australia face similar threats as groundwater reserves shrink. In the US, major declines have been documented in the Great Plains, California’s Central Valley, and the Southeast.
States such as Texas, Florida, New Mexico, and Arizona are considered particularly vulnerable if drought conditions worsen and groundwater pumping remains poorly regulated. The US Drought Monitor has also flagged areas of Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Utah, Colorado, and Wyoming as experiencing severe drought.
How drought creates sinkholes
Sinkholes form when groundwater is rapidly extracted from limestone and other soluble rock layers. These underground cavities, once supported by water pressure, collapse when emptied—causing the land above to suddenly give way.
The result can be catastrophic. In March, a sinkhole roughly 200 feet wide and 40 feet deep opened near an abandoned oil well in Upton County, Texas. In Arizona’s Cochise County, groundwater pumping has caused land subsidence and fissures up to 30 feet across, with some areas sinking more than six inches per year.
In May 2024, a 30-foot-deep sinkhole opened near homes in Las Cruces, New Mexico, swallowing two cars and forcing evacuations. Officials cited drought-weakened soil as the primary cause.
A future shaped by water decisions
Scientists have warned of an “unprecedented 21st-century drought risk” in the US Southwest and Central Plains, with multiple studies projecting severe and persistent drought conditions through 2100.
In 2025, researchers have recorded most extreme drought conditions in the US along the US-Mexico border in western Texas, rated D4, the highest drought severity. Several other regions—including northern Florida, southern Georgia, New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, and Utah—were classified as experiencing severe to extreme drought.
Some governments are beginning to act. In Texas, more than 100 public water systems have imposed restrictions on groundwater pumping this year, limiting use for agriculture and cities alike.
For scientists, the sinkholes opening across Turkey are not signs of divine wrath but stark warnings—visible scars of a planet under pressure from climate change and unsustainable water use.
Whether communities heed those warnings, experts say, may determine how much of the ground beneath them remains standing.
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