This article first appeared in Issue 8 of our free digital magazine CURIOUS.

In 1971, the Soviets were searching for oil fields in the heart of Turkmenistan's Karakum Desert, which was part of the Soviet Union at the time. After thinking they’d struck liquid gold, they mounted a rigging station including a sizable and heavy drill. Unfortunately, all was not as it seemed.

The story goes that once drilling began, it became quickly apparent that they had misjudged the nature of the beast. Instead of drilling into oil, they had set up a hefty operation above an enormous pocket of natural gas. The rig soon collapsed, creating an enormous hole now known as the Darvaza crater.

Darvaza was 70.1 meters (230 feet) across and 20.1 meters (66 feet) deep, and its collapse led to a domino effect that saw craters collapsing across the landscape. With each new crater came more natural gas, mostly made up of methane. This presented a big problem as methane has an unfortunate habit of soaking up all the available oxygen in the air. 

Those involved in the mix-up were worried about how the gas might affect neighboring wildlife and communities, so a quick fix was settled. As humans have so often done when faced with a problem, they tried setting it on fire. The idea was that, in doing so, the flames would burn off the gas in a matter of weeks. Fifty years on, however, those fires are still burning.

The flames haven’t stopped since they were lit half a century ago, and scientists still aren’t sure how long they will continue to burn. Popularly known as the “Gates of Hell”, the Darvaza crater and its flaming neighbors attract tourists and explorers like moths to a literal flame.

In 2013, explorer and storm chaser George Kourounis actually climbed inside the fiery crater as part of a National Geographic-funded expedition to go in search of soil samples, testing if life could be found in such harsh conditions. It’s worth noting that his journey into the Gates Of Hell included wearing a heat-resistant suit, so we’d recommend basking in the heat from a comfortable distance.

CURIOUS is a digital magazine from IFLScience featuring interviews, experts, deep dives, fun facts, news, book excerpts, and much more. Issue 11 June 2023 is OUT NOW.