Thursday, February 21, 2019

The main target depth was set at 15,000 m (49,000 ft).

The main target depth was set at 15,000 m (49,000 ft). On 6 June 1979, the world depth record held by the Bertha Rogers hole in Washita County, Oklahoma, United States, at 9,583 m (31,440 ft) was broken. In 1983, the drill passed 12,000 m (39,000 ft), and drilling was stopped for about a year for numerous scientific and celebratory visits to the site. This idle period may have contributed to a breakdown on 27 September 1984: after drilling to 12,066 m (39,587 ft), a 5,000 m (16,000 ft) section of the drill string twisted off and was left in the hole. Drilling was later restarted from 7,000 m (23,000 ft).

In terms of depth below the surface, the Kola Superdeep Borehole SG-3 retains the world record at 12,262 metres (40,230 ft) in 1989 and is still the deepest artificial point on Earth.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kola_Superdeep_Borehole