SinkholeOdds

Sinkhole risk in Webster 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
3%
At or near the surface
3%
Buried under cover
0%

What this means before you buy

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

That works out to roughly 16 of Webster County's 553 square miles on soluble rock, 16 of them with the rock at or near the surface. With about 7,947 residents (14 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 243 map points about 1.5 miles apart, so a pocket smaller than that can be missed or overstated.

Read next: why gypsum and salt move faster than limestone, and how these percentages are measured.

Counties around Webster County

The nearest county rated sinkhole country is Summers County, WV, about 61 miles south. None of the 6 closest counties land in the same band, so Webster County stands out from its surroundings.

Which formation it is

The largest mapped soluble unit here is the Bluefield Formation (shale), Mississippian in age, covering about 2% of the county. Next is the Hinton Formation at 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 West Virginia

Webster County ranks 22 of 55 in West Virginia for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 60% of US counties on that measure.