The Gates to Hell, also known as “Darvaza gas crater” and Door to Hell in Turkmenistan,. This natural gas field accidentally collapsed into a cavern in the Darvaza drilling rig to fall in. It is believed that the geologists of Russia may have purposely set it on fire to stop the spread of methane gas. The Gates to hell having punctured pockets of gas, poisonous fumes started fumes leaking at an alarming rate.
However, many geologists think it has been burning continuously since 1971 and is expected to keep on burning. The Gates to Hell are situated in the middle of the Karakum Desert, approximately 160 miles from Ashgabat, the Capital city of Turkmenistan. The engineers thought, to be a substantial oil field site to access the oil quantity this site. The closer you get, the brighter it glows. However, the Gates to Hell were a dot of light moments ago and are now a giant crater with fire coming out of it.
The Gates to Hell crater has an area of 5,350 m2, a 226-foot diameter, and a depth of about 98 feet. It’s a popular tourist attraction in Turkmenistan. The beautiful wild desert camping area is my favorite surrounding area. The fiery, glowing Darvaza Gas Crater can be seen from miles away. The nearby village “Derweze” captured the public imagination as a mystery named Door to Hell due to the continuous fire, boiling mud, and orange flames of the crater.
Surprisingly, regardless of the crater’s menacing name and ever-present dangerous flames, tourists still trek into the wild desert to witness the burning site in all its blazing glory. In 2010, Turk President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow ordered the closure of the hole, to save the nearby towns from the dangerous release of poisonous gases, but couldn’t due to various reasons.
The Gates to Hell’s history was uncertain until the 1960s. After reviewing the samples of Gates of Hell soil, a crusty bacteria species discovered active at the bottom of the crater has the ability to live in high temperatures. Similar to Gate to Hell, a Lava Lake that’s been flowing for more than 100 years in Afar Ethiopia.
