30-foot sinkhole opens at Vitamin Shoppe lot in Ocala. Why Florida is highly susceptible

A 30-foot sinkhole opened in an Ocala shopping plaza, mere feet from a busy road.

The subsidence, or sinkhole, opened about 9:30 a.m. Saturday, May 20, near the Vitamin Shoppe in Gaitway Plaza. A check on Monday showed the hole's dimensions had stayed the same: about 30 feet in diameter and 20 feet deep. The hole is near a storm drain vault that branches off to different retention ponds.

On Saturday morning at a parking lot,a sinkhole appeared at Gaitway Plaza in Ocala

Sinkholes are common in Florida but rarely cause death

In the video with this story, one can see traffic moving along Southwest 27th Avenue and State Road 200, which was not compromised in any way. The nearby sinkhole remains cordoned off. Dwight Smith, president of D&D Smith Constructors, LLC, said the sinkhole should be repaired by mid- to late June. Smith was on site Monday along with Ron Ashford, operations director for Paddock Mall, who owns Gaitway Plaza, and Jamie Zimbleman, general manager of Paddock Mall.

The store remains closed until repairs are complete. No injuries were reported.

Below are some things to know about sinkholes, subsidence and what to expect.

What is a sinkhole?

According to the U.S. Geological Survey, a sinkhole is a depression in the ground that has no natural external surface drainage. They typically form when the ground beneath an area slowly dissolves and can no longer support the weight above it.

What's a subsidence?

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association, a subsidence is the "sinking of the ground because of underground material movement. It's most often caused by the removal of water, oil, natural gas, or mineral resources out of the ground by pumping, fracking, or mining activities." Natural events such as an earthquake (which don't happen in Florida), sinkhole formation, erosion and soil compaction can contribute to a subsidence.

Are sinkholes common in Florida?

USGS states, sinkholes are most common in "regions where the types of rock below the land surface can naturally be dissolved by groundwater circulating through them. Soluble rocks include salt beds and domes, gypsum, limestone and other carbonate rock. Florida, for instance, is an area largely underlain by limestone and is highly susceptible to sinkholes."

Have there been any sinkhole deaths in Florida?

There have been deaths from sinkholes in Florida, but they are rare. Possibly the most well-known incident happened February 2013 in Seffner. Jeffrey Bush was sleeping in his bedroom when a sinkhole sucked him 20 feet underground. His body was never recovered.

On the night of Feb. 28, after hearing a loud crash, the victim's brother, Jeremy Bush, ran to one of the bedrooms to see a deep, dirt-covered hole, about 20 feet across, where his brother was sleeping just moments before, Jeremy Bush said in a March 2013 USA TODAY story. He jumped into the hole and clawed through the dirt searching for his brother. The hole was as deep as he is tall. He could see the house's plumbing poking out beneath the floor, he said.

Within minutes, a sheriff's deputy arrived and helped pull him from the hole, telling him the ground was still crumbling around them, Jeremy Bush said. They ran out of the home. No one ever went inside again, he said.

According to USA TODAY, in 2002, a sinkhole developed under a barn in Sanford, Florida, collapsing the structure and killing two horses.

Where can I find out more about sinkholes?

Visit the sinkhole section on the U.S. Geological Survey or the Florida Department of Environmental Protection sites. You also can call the FGS Sinkhole Helpline at 850-245-2118.

Contributing: Rick Jervis and Alan Gomez, USA TODAY