The Darvaza gas crater (Turkmen: Garagum ýalkymy), also known as the Door to Hell or Gates of Hell, officially the Shining of Karakum, is a burning natural gas field collapsed into a cavern near Darvaza, Turkmenistan. Hundreds of natural gas fires illuminate the floor and rim of the crater. The crater has been burning since 1971. Drilling punctured a natural-gas cavern, the cavern’s roof collapsed, and some sources state that engineers ignited the crater to prevent poisonous gases from spreading.
The crater is near the village of Darvaza in the middle of the Karakum Desert. Located about 260 kilometres (160 mi) north of Ashgabat, the capital of Turkmenistan, it has a diameter of 60–70 metres (200–230 ft)[ and a depth of about 30 metres (98 ft). Another nearby gas crater is fenced off and has a distinct odor.
History
The early years of the crater's history are still being determined. Relevant records are either absent from the archives, classified, or inaccessible. Some local geologists have claimed that the collapse of a crater happened in the 1960s; it was set on fire only in the 1980s to prevent the emission of poisonous gases. Others assert that the site was drilled by Soviet engineers in 1971 as an oil field but collapsed within days, forming the crater, with the engineers choosing to flare the crater to prevent the emission of poisonous gases but underestimating the volume of the gas.
Controlling the burn
In April 2010, President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow recommended that measures be taken to limit the crater's influence on the development of other natural gas fields in the area. In January 2022, Berdimuhamedow announced plans to extinguish the crater, citing deleterious effects on local health, the environment, and the natural gas industry. A commission was established to find the optimum technique. Despite Berdimuhamedow's intentions, the crater remains open and burning.
In 2025, authorities declared that the size of the fire had been reduced three-fold over an unspecified timeframe, while several wells were drilled around the crater to capture methane. By August, the crater, which was said to have been the country's top tourist attraction, had only a few pockets of small fires.