Map Shows Where You’d Be If You Dug A Hole Straight Through Earth

by SharonKurheg

Remember when you were a little kid and you tried to “dig a hole to China?” Welp, thanks to the wonders of computers and the internet, there’s a map that’ll take your coordinates and show you where you’d wind up if you really did dig that hole all the way through to the other side of the earth.

The site is called:

Antipodes Map

From Wikipedia:

In geography, the antipode of any spot on Earth is the point on Earth’s surface diametrically opposite to it. A pair of points antipodal to each other are situated such that a straight line connecting the two would pass through Earth’s center. Antipodal points are as far away from each other as possible.

a diagram of a sphere with lines and circles

Anyway, Antipodes Map is a cute little site and all it does is show you what would be on the other side of the world from any geographic location on earth.

Good & bad news

Now, there’s some good news and some bad news about doing this.

The bad news is that since about 70% of the earth is covered in water, chances are very good that whatever coordinates you put in, you’re going to wind up in an ocean, or at least a sea, on the other side.

The good news is that it’s still fun to play around with.

Let’s say you were in, oh I dunno, Colorado Springs, CO, and started digging straight through. You’d eventually wind up in the Indian Ocean, about 2/5 of the way between South Africa and Australia.

a screenshot of a map

In fact, you could be almost anywhere in the United States and wind up in the Indian Ocean (it’s a big ocean). The only exception is Hawaii. If you dug a hole there, you’d wind up in either Botswana or Namibia.

a screenshot of a map

If you were in Tokyo and went straight through? You’d be in the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of Uruguay.

a screenshot of a map

What if you started in London, England? Well, you wouldn’t be very far from New Zealand, but you’d still in the water.

a screenshot of a map

There are few places where you could start and still wind up being on land on the other side, and antipodesmap.com includes them on their site.

Oh, and if you really DID want to dig a hole to China? You’d have to be somewhere in or near Argentina or Chile.

a screenshot of a map

Again, the site is antipodesmap.com. Have fun!

Feature Photo: Twitter/ Cliff Pickover (artist unknown)

Want to comment on this post? Great! Read this first to help ensure it gets approved.
Want to sponsor a post, write something for Your Mileage May Vary or put ads on our site? Click here for more info.

Like this post? Please share it! We have plenty more just like it and would love it if you decided to hang around and sign up to get emailed notifications of when we post.

Whether you’ve read our articles before or this is the first time you’re stopping by, we’re really glad you’re here and hope you come back to visit again!

This post first appeared on Your Mileage May Vary

4 comments

derek March 18, 2022 - 8:17 pm

I disagree. Why be so stupid to dig a hole through the center of the Earth? Deviate a little to the side. If starting from the US, you could get to China and save a few thousand miles of digging.

Reply
Deborah June 17, 2022 - 7:52 pm

Good one Derek! 🙃

Reply
WimWalther March 20, 2022 - 1:28 am

Many years ago, I was curious where I’d end up if I dug down from St Paul, Minnesota. Of course, I’d end up in the Indian Ocean – but in an odd coincidence, the closest land mass is a little French territory called St Paul Island.

Reply
Deborah June 17, 2022 - 8:05 pm

If we dig a hole to the Arctic Circle, we can take all Earth-Wreckers diamonds and block them from coming back in!! One can dream…🤔

Reply

Leave a Comment