Darvaza: The Door to Hell

Derweze (Turkmen language: The Gate, also known as Darvaza) is a Turkmenistan village of about 350 inhabitants, located in the middle of the Kara-Kum desert, about 260 km north from Ashgabat. Darvaza inhabitants are mostly Turkmen of the Teke tribe, preserving a half-nomadic lifestyle.

The Derweze area is rich in natural gas. While drilling in 1971 geologists accidentally found an underground cavern filled with natural gas. The ground beneath the drilling rig collapsed, leaving a large hole with a diameter of about 50-100 meters. To avoid poisonous gas discharge, it was decided to burn the gas. Geologists had hoped the fire would go out in a few days but it has been burning ever since. Locals have named the cavern The Door to Hell. Next to capturing the gas, flaring is safer and friendlier to the environment than releasing the methane into the atmosphere as methane is a relatively potent greenhouse gas with a high global warming potential of 72 (averaged over 20 years) or 25 (averaged over 100 years). Turkmenistan plans to increase its production of natural gas. In April 2010, the President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow visited the site and ordered that the hole should be closed, or other measures be taken to limit its influence on the development of other natural gas fields in the area.

Not far from the burning crater are two other craters of similar origin. These craters are not burning as the gas pressure is much weaker. At the bottom of one of these craters is light grey mud while the last crater contains a turquoise lake. This lake prevents further attempts at drilling. Not far from the burning crater are several dormant wells (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derweze).

According to Wikipedia "In 1971, while drilling for natural gas in Darvaza, Turkmenistan, the ground on which the drilling rig was placed collapsed, leaving a large gaping hole exposed with a diameter of around 60 meters. To avoid poisonous gases coming out of the hole, it was decided to let the gases burn. As of 2008, gases in the underground cavern are still burning without interruption. Locals have named the cavern The Door to Hell."

We've seen other reports saying it was from Soviet drilling in the 1950's. Either way someone decided to burn it and it's been burning for a long time.

Accidents like this exist all around the world but none with such beauty. Others, like the 2006 gas/mud slide in East Java, Indonesia, have caused much more damage and killed many people.

You can actually visit this today as part of a tour. But don't expect a hotel it's camels and camping all the way.

Here's some videos of the crater.



You can even see this on satellite photos. Although this time it looks like Yahoo! maps has the best verison.


View Larger Map

Turquoise Lake Crater / Turkmenistan, Darvaza

Derweze (Turkmen language: The Gate, also known as Darvaza) is a Turkmenistan village of about 350 inhabitants, located in the middle of the Kara-Kum desert, about 260 km north from Ashgabat. Darvaza inhabitants are mostly Turkmen of the Teke tribe, preserving a half-nomadic lifestyle.

The Derweze area is rich in natural gas. Not far from the burning crater are two other craters of similar origin. These craters are not burning as the gas pressure is much weaker. At the bottom of one of these craters is light grey mud while the last crater contains a turquoise lake. This lake prevents further attempts at drilling. Not far from the burning crater are several dormant wells (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derweze).

Definetly going to have to add this to our list of places to visit. If you want to learn more about Turkmenistan then visit the CIA factbook or Wikipedia.

Photos by John H Bradley