Qualla: The Door to Hell: The Crater That's Been Burning for 50 Years https://qualla.com/door-to-hell en-us © 2026 Bendyline Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:21:06 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/t/r/1/s/door-to-hell-wk/hero-small.webp Qualla: The Door to Hell: The Crater That's Been Burning for 50 Years https://qualla.com/door-to-hell The Door to Hell: The Crater That's Been Burning for 50 Years: Introduction https://qualla.com/door-to-hell/ Photo credit David Stanley from Nanaimo, Canada, CC BY 2.0. In 1971, Soviet geologists drilling for natural gas in the Karakum Desert of Turkmenistan hit a pocket of underground gas - and the ground collapsed beneath their equipment. A crater 230 feet wide and 65 feet deep opened in the desert. Fearing the methane would poison nearby villages, the geologists set it on fire, expecting it to burn out in a few weeks. Fifty years later, the Darvaza gas crater - nicknamed the 'Door to Hell' - is still burning. Flames lick from the crater's depths day and night. The orange glow is visible for miles. A simple engineering decision created one of the strangest sights on Earth.

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Image: David Stanley from Nanaimo, Canada | CC BY 2.0

]]> Sat, 24 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/t/r/1/s/door-to-hell-wk/tr1s-the-door-to-hell-the-crater-thats-been-burning-for-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full The Door to Hell: The Crater That's Been Burning for 50 Years: The Collapse https://qualla.com/door-to-hell/ Photo credit Stefan Krasowski, CC BY 2.0. The details of the crater's origin remain somewhat murky - Soviet-era records are incomplete, and the story has been told in conflicting versions. What's clear is that in 1971, geologists exploring for natural gas near the village of Darvaza drilled into an underground cavern fil...

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Image: Stefan Krasowski | CC BY 2.0

]]> Sat, 24 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/t/r/1/s/door-to-hell-wk/tr1s-the-door-to-hell-the-crater-thats-been-burning-for-the-collapse.mp3 0:06 2 full The Door to Hell: The Crater That's Been Burning for 50 Years: The Fire https://qualla.com/door-to-hell/ Photo credit Tormod Sandtorv (original picture) Hellbus (derived work), CC BY-SA 2.0. The geologists decided to burn off the gas. Methane is dangerous - it can cause explosions and asphyxiate anyone who enters a concentrated pocket. Setting the crater on fire seemed like a reasonable short-term solution. The gas would burn out in a few weeks, and the site could be...

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Image: Tormod Sandtorv (original picture) Hellbus (derived work) | CC BY-SA 2.0

]]> Sat, 24 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/t/r/1/s/door-to-hell-wk/tr1s-the-door-to-hell-the-crater-thats-been-burning-for-the-fire.mp3 0:06 3 full The Door to Hell: The Crater That's Been Burning for 50 Years: The Spectacle https://qualla.com/door-to-hell/ Photo credit Rastapopulous, CC BY-SA 3.0. The Darvaza crater has become Turkmenistan's most famous tourist attraction. By day, it's an unremarkable hole in the desert - reddish sand, some steam, nothing special. But at night, it transforms. Hundreds of flames dance across the crater floor and walls, casting an orange glo...

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Image: Rastapopulous | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Sat, 24 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/t/r/1/s/door-to-hell-wk/tr1s-the-door-to-hell-the-crater-thats-been-burning-for-the-spectacle.mp3 0:06 4 full The Door to Hell: The Crater That's Been Burning for 50 Years: The Attempts https://qualla.com/door-to-hell/ Photo credit Tormod Sandtorv, CC BY-SA 2.0. Turkmenistan's government has periodically expressed interest in extinguishing the crater. The burning gas represents lost revenue - natural gas that could be captured and sold. President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow ordered the crater closed in 2010, but nothing happened. In 2022, ...

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Image: Tormod Sandtorv | CC BY-SA 2.0

]]> Sat, 24 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/t/r/1/s/door-to-hell-wk/tr1s-the-door-to-hell-the-crater-thats-been-burning-for-the-attempts.mp3 0:06 5 full The Door to Hell: The Crater That's Been Burning for 50 Years: The Future https://qualla.com/door-to-hell/ Photo credit Stefan Krasowski, CC BY 2.0. No one knows how much gas remains beneath the Darvaza crater. The reservoir could exhaust itself next year or burn for another century. The flames have been continuous for five decades with no sign of weakening. The Door to Hell has become a symbol of unintended consequences - a...

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Image: Stefan Krasowski | CC BY 2.0

]]> Sat, 24 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/t/r/1/s/door-to-hell-wk/tr1s-the-door-to-hell-the-crater-thats-been-burning-for-the-future.mp3 0:06 6 full