‘Door’ or ‘Gate,’ this burning Darvaza crater in Turkmenistan certainly leads to ‘Hell.’ It is a constantly burning crater located in the Karakum desert.

This is a huge 225 feet wide hole with a depth of 99 feet, which is constantly burning for the past 40 years. There is just a population count of 350 people living a few miles away from this hole of burning hell. As interesting it is, so is the amount of danger trapped in this hole!

But is this natural?

Many times, people have witnessed that Earth has its own mystic creation, but this hell is different. Humans have created it. It is probably one of the most dangerous mistakes made by man in search of finding oil relief. But the one thing that is achieved from this mistake is that now, this is a tourist attraction and people from all over the world come to see this ‘Door to Hell’. This is also helping in having an economic hike in Turkmenistan.

How and who created this ‘Door to Hell’?

This phenomenon occurred in 1971 when the Soviet Union went in search for oil fields and they dig this part of Karakum desert. There, when the engineers started drilling, instead of finding oil; they realized that it was a gas crater that was wide opened. This was all the way more as gas fields have a loose base. Moreover, the machines used are pretty heavy which further added on the breaking of the field that exposed this gas crater.

In no time, they also realized that the gasses were poisonous with a high amount of Methane in it. This could have killed the entire settlement around. Hence, to stop that mishap, the crater was lit. And since then, it is over four decades now that the hole-of-hell is still burning.

Why didn’t they use the gas?

Yes, science has advanced to the extent of unbelief. But the point is that unlike oil which can be stored; natural gas needs to be processed instantly. If it is measured, this reserve is burning off almost a million dollar gas daily. For this reason, new plans are established for the near future. The government of Turkmenistan has plans that will increase the production of this natural gas.

Then they are planning to successfully process it and export the gas to developing nations with a better economic prospect like China, Iran, Russia, India and Western Europe. The present deposit they have is somewhat around 75 cubic million, and if it is used properly, it will be a high benefit for Turkmenistan.

How does it seem to tourist and visitors?

Many people, who have seen this burning gas crater, have expressed their views and visionary on it. As the locals say, it is visible at night from miles away and has a particular smell of burning sulfur. By seeing it, many people pray in front of the open fire pit as they feel this will cleanse their sin.

Every year it attracts around 12,000 to 15,000 visitors who are extremely interested to see and analyze the uncanny beauty of a human-made mistake – ‘Door to Hell.’

(Image Credits: George Verschoor/National Geographic Channels, Wikipedia)