Sinkhole risk in Clay County, WV: No soluble rock mapped

No soluble rock mapped

No soluble bedrock mapped.

On soluble rock: 0%
At or near the surface: 0%
Buried under cover: 0%

The next step for one property

No soluble bedrock is mapped here, so natural sinkholes are unlikely. Collapses from broken pipes or old mines are a separate risk.

Across 342 square miles, under one square mile of Clay County maps onto soluble rock. With about 7,689 residents (22 per square mile), much of the land is open, and the mapped rock may sit far from where people actually live. The figures come from 502 map points about 0.8 miles apart, so a pocket smaller than that can be missed or overstated.

Two things to read before deciding: how these percentages are measured, and the warning signs that apply anywhere.

Counties around Clay County

The nearest county rated sinkhole country is Summers County, WV, about 57 miles south. 6 of the 6 closest counties land in the same band, so this is a regional pattern rather than a local quirk.

Nicholas County, WV 19 mi southeast · 0% at surface
Roane County, WV 24 mi northwest · 0% at surface
Braxton County, WV 25 mi northeast · 0% at surface
Kanawha County, WV 26 mi west · 0% at surface
Calhoun County, WV 27 mi north · 0% at surface
Fayette County, WV 30 mi south · under 1% at surface

Against the rest of West Virginia

Clay County ranks 32 of 55 in West Virginia for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 0% of US counties on that measure.