California Sinkhole Swallows Entire Pond in One Night (Video)

Sinkholes are nothing to laugh about. They can swallow cars, houses, people--and even ponds. The latest incident involved a California couple's water features, which disappeared overnight in their backyard.

Sinkholes, which are essentially holes that open suddenly in the ground, occur due to a variety of factors. Sometimes, erosion due to underground water that gathers due to man-made activities is the cause. Other times, sinkholes occur after material is taken out of the ground-such as water or minerals. The formation of these holes can be dramatic because surface land stays intact until there is not enough support. Then, a sudden collapse of the land surface can occur. The states most affected by this phenomenon are Florida, Texas, Alabama, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee and Pennsylvania.

In this latest incident, Mark Korb and his wife found their pond drained overnight. Usually, it took Korb about seven days to completely drain the water.

"This looks like the moon," Korb said in an interview with KCRA. He isn't wrong, either. Footage of the drained pond reveals a landscape that looks like a massive, grey crater.

Yet this isn't the only sinkhole to have occurred recently. Korb's experience comes only two weeks after a 20-foot-wide sinkhole swallowed a man and his house in Florida. Officials frantically searched for the man to determine if he was still alive, but eventually the hunt was called off on March 3 after it became too dangerous for workers. Presumed dead, the hole was filled in.

Sinkholes can cause massive damage to buildings and people. In 1994, a 15-story sinkhole tore upon beneath an 80-million-ton pile of gypsum stack, which is toxic industrial waste. The incident contaminated Florida's drinking water, and cleanup efforts ranged into the millions of dollars. In Texas, the cavernous Devil's Sinkhole shows that sinkholes can plunge as much as 400 feet.

Check out the video below for more information, courtesy of KCRA.