(the black dot to the right of the crater is an suv)

this is so awesome.

there is a huge burning crater in derweze, a village in turkmenistan, nicknamed “the door to hell”.

it was created/discovered in 1971 when geologists tapped into a cavern full of natural gas. in order to keep the gas out of the atmosphere they decided to set fire to it assuming that it was burn out within a few hours. it didn’t and has been burning ever since. 40 years and counting. 

read more at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derweze

check out this video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7we6mz0TyZA