Local officials in the United Kingdom issued a public safety warning to residents of St. Albans after engineers discovered that the ground surrounding a recently formed sinkhole appear to still be moving and could cause further damage.
The 66-foot (20-meter) wide St. Albans sinkhole appeared earlier last week Fontmell Close, requiring around 7,000 metric tons of concrete in order to cover the large crater.
Officials from the Hertfordshire County Council report that they are conducting tests to find out if similar sinkholes are forming in the area but have yet to confirm whether there has been further ground movement until ongoing monitoring work is completed.
Residents living in the Hertfordshire suburbs near the crater have been unable to return to their homes because of safety concerns, with some inhabitants being upset that a smaller sinkhole that was previously reported has yet to be filled in with concrete as well.
"The neighbor whose house it was outside was concerned and was chasing for some action and not getting an awful lot," St. Albans resident David Walker said.
Rob Smith, a spokesman for the Hertfordshire County Council, said that the safety of the inhabitants is their priority and they believe more time is needed to achieve that goal. He said that they have to know exactly what is going on in the ground surrounding the local St. Albans neighborhood.
Smith added that they have already launched several non-intrusive road surveys using radars to determine whether similar sinkholes could form in the area in the future.
Richard Thake, a member of the Council's Community Safety Cabinet, said that it was too early to be certain 'when or if' the St. Albans resident evacuated from the area would be permitted to move back to their homes.
While only a small number of homes have been evacuated, other families living in the surrounding area have also been advised to leave. However, they will not be able to receive accommodation costs through their insurance unless actual damage is seen on their property.
Thake said that they will examine all available geological and archaeological records of the area. There have been assertions that the community was constructed on a former garbage dump but no evidence has been found to support these claims.
