Sinkhole risk in Pocahontas County, WV: Pockets of it

Pockets of it

Soluble rock at the surface or under thin cover in part of the county.

On soluble rock: 30%
At or near the surface: 30%
Buried under cover: 0%

What to do about a house in Pocahontas County

Check the parcel against your state survey sinkhole map, and ask for an inspection if cracks, depressions or sticking doors show up.

That works out to roughly 278 of Pocahontas County's 940 square miles on soluble rock, 278 of them with the rock at or near the surface. With about 7,653 residents (8 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 496 map points about 1.4 miles apart, so a pocket smaller than that can be missed or overstated.

Worth reading for this county: the signs to look for and how an inspection works, and how these percentages are measured.

Counties around Pocahontas County

The nearest county rated sinkhole country is Rockbridge County, VA, about 47 miles southeast. 5 of the 6 closest counties land in the same band, so this is a regional pattern rather than a local quirk.

Bath County, VA 24 mi southeast · 24% at surface
Highland County, VA 24 mi east · 36% at surface
Webster County, WV 26 mi northwest · 3% at surface
Randolph County, WV 32 mi north · 17% at surface
Greenbrier County, WV 37 mi southwest · 35% at surface
Alleghany County, VA 38 mi south · 18% at surface

What Pocahontas County is built on

The largest mapped soluble unit here is the Bluefield Formation (shale), Mississippian in age, covering about 13% of the county. Next is the Greenbrier Group at 8%.

Against the rest of West Virginia

Pocahontas County ranks 8 of 55 in West Virginia for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 79% of US counties on that measure.