8 Things Netflix’s The Abyss Leaves Out About The Real Kiruna Mine Disaster

Netflix’s 2023 movie The Abyss is based on the real-world Kiruna Mine disaster of 2020, but the film missed several factors of the actual event. The Swedish disaster movie pulls through on its genre by featuring scene after scene of brutal deaths related to a devastating act of god, and the fact that it is based on actual events makes it all the more chilling. However, when looking at the actual Kiruna mine and the earthquake that made headlines in 2020, it’s clear that the film took creative liberties while leaving out several key details.

Netflix’s The Abyss follows the head of the Kiruna mine’s security, Frigga, and her family after an earthquake hits a portion of the mine. Upon further investigation, Frigga realizes that the nearby town of Kiruna is in danger of being swallowed by the Earth thanks to subsidence caused by the combination of excessive mining and quakes. However, with a member of their family missing, the characters of The Abyss can’t evacuate and are caught in the chaos as portions of the town collapse beneath their feet. It’s certainly a thrilling tale, but there’s a lot about the real Kiruna Mine disaster that was left out.

8 There Were No Casualties In The Real Kiruna Mine Disaster Of 2020

Netflix’s The Abyss changed the true story to include several deaths.

Though the earthquake itself didn’t cause any deaths in The Abyss, the subsequent cave-ins and sinkholes claimed the lives of dozens. The film saw the entire streets and buildings swallowed up by the Earth and countless Kiruna citizens perishing in the tremendous disaster. However, the real Kiruna Mine disaster resulted in, thankfully, no casualties (via Euro News). When the earthquake struck, measuring 4.8 on the Richter scale, 13 miners were working beneath the ground and were all successfully evacuated. As for the town itself, the residents were entirely fine.

7 The Town Of Kiruna Has Been In The Process Of Moving Since 2004

The Abyss movie implied that moving Kiruna was a recent decision.

The Abyss revealed that the town of Kiruna was in the process of being moved to a new location thanks to the crumbling Earth. However, what wasn’t mentioned is that this process had been initiated nearly 20 years before the earthquake of 2020. Subsidence, or the gradual sinking of an area of land, is a common occurrence near mines and can cause significant damage to buildings and roads. This is certainly a long-term safety issue, but it wasn’t an immediate concern, as was implied by Netflix’s The Abyss.

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6 Kiruna’s Town Center Was Successfully Moved In 2022

The opening of The Abyss implied that the whole town was moved after the quake.

The opening of The Abyss explained that the town of Kiruna was moved to a new location following the 2020 quake. Given the subsequent disaster seen at the end of the film, it’s implied that Old Kiruna in its entirety was moved since it certainly wouldn’t have been livable afterward. In truth, only the town center has so far made it to the new location, most of which is entirely new construction. Therefore, most of Kiruna’s residents still live in the original town as of the making of The Abyss.

5 There Have So Far Been No Major Cave-Ins In The Town Of Kiruna

The real town of Kiruna is sinking, but there have been no major cave-ins like in The Abyss.

The real disaster of Kiruna was the earthquake that halted mining efforts in 2020, but the quake itself wasn’t the issue in Netflix’s disaster movie. Rather, most of the deaths seen in the film were the result of cave-ins and sinkholes in the town of Kiruna. In truth, this hasn’t happened at all. Though cracking has been observed in several buildings and roads, and one of Kiruna’s schools has been deemed unsafe, there is no imminent danger of sudden craters swallowing up the townspeople. Of course, this wouldn’t have made for a very exciting movie, so this detail was left out of The Abyss.

Earthquakes are common in Kiruna, but they haven’t been as lethal as The Abyss implies.

Throughout The Abyss, Frigga mentions her father, who died in an earthquake-related mining accident years before the film’s start. It’s implied that this is why the protagonist became the Kiruna Mine’s head of security—to ensure something like that never happened again. This seems to imply that such disasters are commonplace in Kiruna, but this isn’t the case. In fact, there are no recorded earthquake-related deaths in Kiruna, Sweden (via High North News).

3 It Took 2 Years To Repair The Earthquakes Damage To The Kiruna Mine

The Abyss didn’t cover what happened in the years following the Kiruna mine disaster.

The Abyss ends just after the disaster, as the characters reel from the deaths of their loved ones. Therefore, the movie omitted what happened to the mine after the fact. Since there were no casualties in the real Kiruna Mine disaster, LKAB, the company that owns the mine, could begin repairs shortly after the quake. Still, it was a slow and steady process. According to High North News, the company completed restorations in 2022. However, at that point, production was still reduced compared to before the quake since LKAB hopes to avoid future disasters.

2 The Kiruna Disaster Effected Northern Sweden’s Sami People The Most

Netflix’s The Abyss left out the impact the mines have on the Sami people.

The Abyss focused on the fictional effect the mine earthquake had on the town of Kiruna, but the people most impacted by the event were the indigenous peoples of Northern Sweden. The Sami, who have depended on reindeer herding for centuries, are deeply affected by the subsidence caused by the Kiruna Mine, as well as the earthquakes and the decision to move the town center (via The Guardian). The changing landscapes and fragmentation of the Earth interrupt the ancient activity of the reindeer movement, which could mean a real disaster for the Sami people.

1 The 2020 Earthquake At The Kiruna Mine Accelerated The Town’s Move (But It Will Still Take Years)

Kiruna won’t be fully moved to its new location until 2034.

The opening sequence of The Abyss implies that the town of Kiruna was being moved due to the 2020 earthquake, which, as previously mentioned, isn’t true since the decision to move was made back in the early 2000s. However, it’s true that the quake inspired the town to accelerate its plans. This led to the town center being moved in 2022, but there is still a long way to go before the move is complete. The current plan is to have Kiruna moved by 2034, proving there is no immediate danger to remaining in the town—a detail that Netflix’s The Abyss ignored entirely.

Sources: Euro News, High North News, The Guardian