Massive sinkhole opens on New Zealand dairy farm

May 4 (UPI) — As massive sinkhole hundreds of feet long split a dairy farm this week near Rotorua, New Zealand.

Described as six stories deep and the length of two football fields — or about 700 feet long — the sinkhole was found earlier this week by a workman during an evening roundup of dairy cows.

The hole appeared after several days of heavy rainfall on New Zealand’s North Island.

Farm manager Colin Tremain said he was not aware of the sinkhole’s size until he saw it in the daylight. He added it will soon be surrounded by a fence.

Sinkholes are caused by water dissolving underground limestone. Volcanologist Bradley Scott, of New Zealand research institute GNS Science, called this one “pretty spectacular.”

“What I see in the bottom of the hole is the original 60,000-year-old volcanic deposit that came out of this crater,” Scott said. “It’s related to high intensity rainfalls. It’s not a new process, it’s been happening for a long time and we can expect it to happen again in the future.”