Sinkhole risk in Early County, GA: Sinkhole country

Sinkhole country

Soluble rock at or near the surface across much of the county.

On soluble rock: 81%
At or near the surface: 81%
Buried under cover: 0%

The next step for one property

Get a sinkhole or geotechnical inspection before buying, building or adding weight to a foundation.

That works out to roughly 414 of Early County's 513 square miles on soluble rock, 414 of them with the rock at or near the surface. With about 10,444 residents (20 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 597 map points about 0.9 miles apart, so a pocket smaller than that can be missed or overstated.

Two things to read before deciding: the signs to look for and how an inspection works, and how these percentages are measured.

Counties around Early County

The closest county with no soluble rock mapped is Randolph County, GA, about 32 miles north. 3 of the 6 closest counties land in the same band; the ground changes quickly around here.

Miller County, GA 15 mi southeast · 100% at surface
Clay County, GA 21 mi north · 1% at surface
Calhoun County, GA 21 mi northeast · 40% at surface
Henry County, AL 24 mi northwest · 20% at surface
Houston County, AL 26 mi southwest · 84% at surface
Baker County, GA 27 mi east · 93% at surface

The rock underneath

The largest mapped soluble unit here is the Ocala Limestone (limestone), Eocene in age, covering about 80% of the county. Next is the Tallahatta Formation at under 1%.

Against the rest of Georgia

Early County ranks 6 of 159 in Georgia for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 95% of US counties on that measure.