# If you dig a hole straight down, where would you exit? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 25, 2006, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dig-a-hole-straight-down-where-would-you-exit/354100 "2006-04-25T03:56:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Ale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Ale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ale)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2006, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dig-a-hole-straight-down-where-would-you-exit/354100/1 "2006-04-25T03:56:42Z")
I just cleared one of my childhood misteries, if I dug straight down through the Earth, where would I exit? I went to [Mapquest](http://www.mapquest.com) and put my latitude (instead of South, North) and longitude (I added 180 degrees) so I had the exact opposite place and… Smack in the middle of the Yellow Sea, about 40 km SE of the halfway line between Nanjing and Seul. :dubious: Rats, I expected to pop my head in China, not on the sea bed; I´ll have to swim a couple hundred kilometers to the East to find the nearest land. ---
**Author:** ![FlyingRamenMonster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@FlyingRamenMonster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlyingRamenMonster)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2006, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dig-a-hole-straight-down-where-would-you-exit/354100/2 "2006-04-25T04:16:25Z")
I think you’d end up stuck in the core of the earth, ripped apart by the gravitational forces. Oh, and all that molten metal, too. … I apparently would end up in a small Mexican town near Tijuana. ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2006, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dig-a-hole-straight-down-where-would-you-exit/354100/3 "2006-04-25T04:45:05Z")
A link to a way to figure out your lat. and long. might provide you with better responses. Just a suggestion. ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2006, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dig-a-hole-straight-down-where-would-you-exit/354100/4 "2006-04-25T04:45:30Z")
> [@FlyingRamenMonster](#): > > I think you’d end up stuck in the core of the earth, ripped apart by the gravitational forces. Oh, and all that molten metal, too. > > … I apparently would end up in a small Mexican town near Tijuana. Ummm…huh? If you’re in Washington state as your location thingy states, how can you still remain in the western hemisphere? And color me cluelesss, but where in Mapquest can I see my lat and long? I know roughly my latitude, but have ni clue about my longitude, and even if I did, I certainly have no idea what corresponds to the opposite of those. ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2006, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dig-a-hole-straight-down-where-would-you-exit/354100/5 "2006-04-25T04:49:48Z")
> [@bouv](#): > > Ummm…huh? If you’re in Washington state as your location thingy states, how can you still remain in the western hemisphere? > > And color me cluelesss, but where in Mapquest can I see my lat and long? I know roughly my latitude, but have ni clue about my longitude, and even if I did, I certainly have no idea what corresponds to the opposite of those. WA=Western Australia?? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2006, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dig-a-hole-straight-down-where-would-you-exit/354100/6 "2006-04-25T04:50:53Z")
[Here’s the MapQuest link.](http://www.mapquest.com/maps/main.adp?formtype=latlong&cat=&address=&city=&state=&zipcode=) If I’ve done this right, I’m in the Indian Ocean, almost perfectly in between Australia, Africa and Antarctica. The nearest island that Mapquest shows is Grand Terre, one of the Kerguelen Islands (it’s a French Antarctic island), formerly called _Desolation Island_. And even that is close to 1,000 miles away. That would have left me plenty of room to think, but I’m still glad I never tunneled all the way through. ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2006, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dig-a-hole-straight-down-where-would-you-exit/354100/7 "2006-04-25T04:53:19Z")
Alright, I was able to find it, and I would end up in the southern part of the Indian Ocean. Make a line straight south from the southern tip of India, and about 3.4 of the way down that line, and just to the left, is where I would end up. ---
**Author:** ![some\_white\_dude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b487fb/32.png) [@some\_white\_dude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/some_white_dude)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2006, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dig-a-hole-straight-down-where-would-you-exit/354100/8 "2006-04-25T04:54:10Z")
I’d probably get about 10 feet down, get tired, and go take a nap. ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2006, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dig-a-hole-straight-down-where-would-you-exit/354100/9 "2006-04-25T04:54:20Z")
> [@I Love Me](#): > > WA=Western Australia?? Oooooooooohhhhhhhh. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![David\_Simmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de053/32.png) [@David\_Simmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Simmons)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2006, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dig-a-hole-straight-down-where-would-you-exit/354100/10 "2006-04-25T04:54:40Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > [Here’s the MapQuest link.](http://www.mapquest.com/maps/main.adp?formtype=latlong&cat=&address=&city=&state=&zipcode=) > > If I’ve done this right, I’m in the Indian Ocean, almost perfectly in between Australia, Africa and Antarctica. The nearest island that Mapquest shows is Grand Terre, one of the Kerguelen Islands (it’s a French Antarctic island), formerly called _Desolation Island_. And even that is close to 1,000 miles away. That would have left me plenty of room to think, but I’m still glad I never tunneled all the way through. Right. The antipodes to the United States are in the Indian Ocean. ---
**Author:** ![wolf\_meister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf_meister/32/15202_2.png) [@wolf\_meister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolf_meister)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2006, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dig-a-hole-straight-down-where-would-you-exit/354100/11 "2006-04-25T04:56:16Z")
I think most of the USA has the Pacific Ocean “beneath its feet”. Hawaii has Mozambique directly “underneath” it. ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2006, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dig-a-hole-straight-down-where-would-you-exit/354100/12 "2006-04-25T04:57:00Z")
> [@bouv](#): > > Ummm…huh? If you’re in Washington state as your location thingy states, how can you still remain in the western hemisphere? > > And color me cluelesss, but where in Mapquest can I see my lat and long? I know roughly my latitude, but have ni clue about my longitude, and even if I did, I certainly have no idea what corresponds to the opposite of those. Thats Perth, Western Australia not Washington state. A common confusion I’m sure. ---
**Author:** ![Frosted\_Glass](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frosted_glass/32/3926_2.png) [@Frosted\_Glass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frosted_Glass)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2006, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dig-a-hole-straight-down-where-would-you-exit/354100/13 "2006-04-25T04:57:29Z")
I used this site to find my [Latitude and Longitude](http://www.maporama.com/). I would end up just south of the Mongolia/China border near a place called Bayan Mod. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2006, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dig-a-hole-straight-down-where-would-you-exit/354100/14 "2006-04-25T04:57:46Z")
About 700 miles WSW from Perth, Australia. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2006, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dig-a-hole-straight-down-where-would-you-exit/354100/15 "2006-04-25T05:19:30Z")
> [@FlyingRamenMonster](#): > > … I apparently would end up in a small Mexican town near Tijuana. I think you did something wrong, unless you’re not in Perth at the moment. Google Earth puts you off the coast of Bermuda. ---
**Author:** ![Shai\_tan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Shai\_tan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shai_tan)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2006, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dig-a-hole-straight-down-where-would-you-exit/354100/16 "2006-04-25T05:21:01Z")
> [@FlyingRamenMonster](#): > > I think you’d end up stuck in the core of the earth, \*\*ripped apart by the gravitational forces. \*\* I’m having trouble with the being RIPPED apart bit. Forgetting the molten lead, the force pulling you in any given direction will be LESS than the pull “down” when on the surface. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2006, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dig-a-hole-straight-down-where-would-you-exit/354100/17 "2006-04-25T05:22:56Z")
If I’ve done the calculations correctly, 1739 km SSW of Perth. ---
**Author:** ![Pixiesnix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/898d66/32.png) [@Pixiesnix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pixiesnix)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2006, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dig-a-hole-straight-down-where-would-you-exit/354100/18 "2006-04-25T05:26:46Z")
I would indeed end up in China, about 40km from the booming metropolis of Huatgou. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2006, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dig-a-hole-straight-down-where-would-you-exit/354100/19 "2006-04-25T05:28:45Z")
From a quick look at an atlas, about 600km south of the Azores Islands I think. ---
**Author:** ![Kythereia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2006, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dig-a-hole-straight-down-where-would-you-exit/354100/20 "2006-04-25T05:32:02Z")
All right, I’m lost. How are you all doing this? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dig-a-hole-straight-down-where-would-you-exit/354100.md?page=2)