SinkholeOdds

Sinkhole risk in Huron County, OH: Mostly deep or small

Mostly deep or small

Some soluble rock, mostly deeply buried or in a small share of the county.

On soluble rock
2%
At or near the surface
0%
Buried under cover
2%

What to do about a house in Huron County

Sinkholes are uncommon here; watch for new depressions after heavy rain or leaking pipes.

That works out to roughly 8 of Huron County's 492 square miles on soluble rock. With about 58,168 residents (118 per square mile), homes are spread across towns and farmland, and a mapped unit may or may not reach the developed parts. The figures come from 367 map points about 1.2 miles apart, so a pocket smaller than that can be missed or overstated.

Worth reading for this county: why gypsum and salt move faster than limestone, and how these percentages are measured.

Counties around Huron County

The nearest county rated sinkhole country is Monroe County, MI, about 70 miles northwest. 2 of the 6 closest counties land in the same band; the ground changes quickly around here.

Which formation it is

The largest mapped soluble unit here is the Plum Brook Shale (shale), Devonian in age, covering about under 1% of the county. Next is the Prout Limestone at under 1%.

The county also lies over the Michigan Basin; Ohio Basin; Appalachian Basin, a deep salt or gypsum basin. Deep beds rarely cause surface collapse on their own, but wells and mining into them have.

Against the rest of Ohio

Huron County ranks 42 of 88 in Ohio for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 0% of US counties on that measure.