Sinkhole risk in Foster County, ND: No soluble rock mapped

What to do about a house in Foster County

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

Across 634 square miles, under one square mile of Foster County maps onto soluble rock. With about 3,323 residents (5 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 408 map points about 1.2 miles apart, so a pocket smaller than that can be missed or overstated.

Read next: how these percentages are measured, and the warning signs that apply anywhere.

Counties around Foster County

The nearest county rated sinkhole country is Boyd County, NE, about 316 miles south. 5 of the 6 closest counties land in the same band, so this is a regional pattern rather than a local quirk.

• Eddy County, ND 17 mi north · 0% at surface
• Griggs County, ND 30 mi east · 0% at surface
• Stutsman County, ND 35 mi south · 0% at surface
• Wells County, ND 39 mi west · 0% at surface
• Nelson County, ND 44 mi northeast · 0% at surface
• Benson County, ND 47 mi northwest · 0% at surface

Against the rest of North Dakota

Foster County ranks 19 of 53 in North Dakota for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 0% of US counties on that measure.

• Cavalier County 2%
• Ransom County under 1%
• Dunn County under 1%
• Barnes County under 1%
• Slope County under 1%