Darvaza gas crater, Turkmenistan - The Door to Hell
Our earth is full of many wonders. One such wonder is "The Darvaza gas crater". It is also known as the "Door to Hell" or ''Gates of Hell. It is a natural gas field in Derweze, Turkmenistan, that collapsed into an underground cavern, becoming a natural gas crater. Derweze is a Persian word which means "Gate". It is also known as Darvaza in hindi. Derweze is a village in Turkmenistan of about 350 inhabitants, located in the middle of the Karakum Desert, about 260 km north from Ashgabat, the capital of Turkmenistan. The gas reserve found here is one of the largest in the world. There is a wide crater in this village, in which there is a continuous fire burning since 1971. The diameter of the crater is 69 metres (226 ft), and its depth is 30 metres (98 ft). The name "Door to Hell" was given to this crater by the locals. There is a very interesting story behind this crater. The 70 percent or 350,000 km² area of Turkmenistan is desert. Turkmenistan is divided into 5 provinces. Ahal Region is one of the regions of Turkmenistan. Ahal Region accounted for 14% of Turkmenistan's population. This area is full of natural resources. Derweze village is also situated in this region. In 1971, scientists from the former Soviet Union came to search the oil and gas in this desert area, they chose this place for drilling rig near Daravez Village. They started drilling here after setup. After some time of drilling, this place collapsed and it became a 230 feet wide and 65 feet deep crater. There was no harm in this accident. But this crater started to release too much quantity of methane gas. Methane gas is a greenhouse gas that has an adverse effect on both the environment and the human. Therefore, it was necessary to stop this methane gas from coming out.
There were two options, either to close this crater or to burn this methane gas. The first method was extremely expensive and time consuming. That's why scientists adopted second way and set fire to this crater. They thought that in a few days all the methane gas will burn and the fire will automatically get extinguished. But the idea of the scientists turned out to be wrong, and the fire that is still burning after many years, now you can imagine how much methane there is in that place. This place has become a major tourist attraction in Turkmenistan. At this place, the entire grandeur is seen at night. This amazing view can be seen from distance of several kilometers away. In the sunlight during the day, it is seen as a common crater. In April 2010, the President of Turkmenistan, Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow, visited the site and ordered that the hole should be closed. In 2013, he declared the part of the Karakum Desert with the crater a nature reserve. The crater was featured in a Die Trying episode titled "Crater of Fire. The crater is a popular tourist attraction. Since 2009, more than 50,000 tourists have visited the site. The surrounding area is also popular for wild desert camping.