SinkholeOdds

Sinkhole risk in Preston County, WV: 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
2%
Buried under cover
0%

The next step for one property

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

That works out to roughly 14 of Preston County's 649 square miles on soluble rock, 14 of them with the rock at or near the surface. With about 34,055 residents (52 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 325 map points about 1.4 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 Preston County

The nearest county rated sinkhole country is Winchester city, VA, about 82 miles east. 3 of the 6 closest counties land in the same band; the ground changes quickly around here.

The rock underneath

The largest mapped soluble unit here is the Greenbrier Group (limestone), Mississippian in age, covering about 2% of the county.

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 West Virginia

Preston County ranks 23 of 55 in West Virginia for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 58% of US counties on that measure.