Turkmenistan’s Darvaza Natural Gas Crater, or ‘Gateway to Hell,’ May Soon Close

The Darvaza Natural Gas Crater is a vast, fiery pit, measuring 200 feet wide and 65 feet deep. For the past 50 years, it’s been smoldering away in the middle of the Karakum desert, in the central Asian country of Turkmenistan. The crater was formed in the early 70s, when a natural gas pocket collapsed into a cavern. Nicknamed the ‘Gateway to Hell,’ it’s something of a tourist attraction. Yet, all that burning fossil fuel is not good for the environment.