5 Eternal Fires in the World: Recommended Choices

Eternal fire is a fire born from natural gas or created by human intervention and burns for a long time without extinguishing.

1. Eternal Flame Falls, Shale Creek Conservation Area, New York, USA

The eternal flame is about 20cm high and has been burning for thousands of years. Nestled in a small cave behind the 10.7m high Eternal Flame waterfall in Shale Creek conservation area is one of the most famous eternal flames in the world.

Researchers have still identified a regular fuel supply for this eternal flame. The theory is that some geological process steadily released natural gas from the shale layer at a depth of 400m, providing fuel for the fire.

The small fire can be observed most of the year and burns even in winter when the waterfall freezes. However, occasionally, it may go out and need to be re-ignited.

2. Yanartas, Olympos Valley, Türkiye

Yanartas located on Chimaera mountain in the Olympos valley in the city of Antalya, Türkiye today has dozens of small natural eternal fires. They have been burning for more than 2.5 millennia. At night, the area looks like hell on Earth.

3. Erta Ale, Ethiopia

Erta Ale is a 613m high shield volcano, located in the Afar basin, Ethiopia. It is notable for its nearby active lava lake, which is nicknamed "hell's gate". Erta Ale's lava lake was discovered in 1906.

4. Yanar Da?, Azerbaijan

Yanar Da? in Azerbaijan located in the Lesser Caucasus Mountains, Azerbaijan, is a natural eternal fire. Yanar Dag burns with natural gas leaking from the porous sandstone on the hillside above Absheron Bay, which can rise 2.74 m high.

5. Darvaza Gas Crater, Turkmenistan

The Darvaza crater in Turkmenistan has been burning continuously for more than 50 years and is nicknamed the Gates of Hell.

This eternal flame was created by human hands. In the 1970s, Soviet petroleum engineers discovered a giant gas field. Exploratory drilling in the area led to an underground collapse that caused large amounts of methane to begin spraying to the surface. The engineering team decided to burn the released gas to prevent methane from accumulating to unsafe levels.