LUZERNE COUNTY, Pa. — "The dump trucks coming in with the stone. They filled it in, so hopefully, they secured it. Let's hope and pray that it stays that way," said Timothy Fleig, Swoyersville.
In Swoyersville, the Department of Environmental Protection is officially calling the hole that opened under Timothy Fleig's garage near Hughes Street in Swoyersville a mine subsidence.
It's the smaller of two collapses the DEP says happened in Luzerne County over the last few days.
"That's why I don't live in the valley anymore, just because of the possibility of mine subsidence," said Jude O'Donnell, Lehman Township.
A little more than two miles away in Luzerne Borough, Jude O'Donnell watched construction crews move tons of dirt and rock to fill the first mine subsidence that opened in the middle of Toby Creek over the weekend.
The Department of Environmental Protection says while crews were working to fix the subsidence, they found a tension crack about six feet wide. While this delayed repairs, the collapse has since been filled.
"That's there since the late 1800s early 1900s. They had no issues with that, to my knowledge, of subsidence in the creek; it survived the 72 flood, the 2011 flood, and every Highwater event that we've had, so could it be related to the earthquake? I'm gonna say yeah," said O'Donnell.
These two subsidences have other residents in the area worrying about what could happen next.
"We are used to seeing a small dribble of water, but this is pretty massive," said Edward Christilaw.
For the last few years, Edward Christilaw of Swoyersville says water that seeps out of the ground near his home leaves behind an orange tint. Following the two subsidences, he's worried about the mines that run under his home, "I think I have a mine in the backyard, which would lead me to think there would be mines over there as well."
The DEP says work along Toby Creek is done for the evening. Crews will be back Tuesday to inspect the creek.
For more information on abandoned mines throughout the area, click here.