Giant Sinkle Gobbles Homes; 3 People Missing

[Sean Ryan]

http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/americas/ ... index.html

Giant sinkhole gobbles homes; 3 people missing

GUATEMALA CITY, Guatemala (AP) -- A giant sinkhole swallowed several homes and at least one truck early Friday in Guatemala City, and officials said at least three people had been reported missing.

Hugo Sanchez, Guatemala's national disaster coordinator, said emergency officials couldn't attempt to rescue anyone overnight because the 330-foot-deep hole was very unstable. Loud noises and the smell of sewage rose from the hole, and the earth around it shook.

"I was in my house, and I started to hear booming and I felt the earth shaking, and then I realized that the homes had collapsed" into the sinkhole, said Maria Rivas, who lives nearby.

Immediately after the sinkhole appeared before dawn, police patrolled the neighborhood, using megaphones to urge residents to stay in their homes.

They later evacuated 1,000 houses and moved the residents to temporary shelters in schools and a police building.

The director of Guatemala's Seismology, Vulcanology, Meteorology and Hydrology Institute, Eddie Sanchez, said the sinkhole was likely caused by a leaky sewer main and recent rains.

[Scott McCrea]

100 meters deep--Wow!

Here's some more pics:
http://www.dagbladet.no/nyheter/2007/02/23/493090.html

[Scott McCrea]

Even more pics:
http://www.ordena.com/digg/sinkhole.html

[bigalpha]

Sewer Leak huh? I doubt a sewer leak would have caused a 100m deep hole. If it was a sewer leak, all of that sediment would have had to go somewhere.

Awesome pictures, though. simply amazing.

[chaz]

I got the rope! and gas mask!

[chh]

I got the rope! and gas mask!

Oh man! I'm right there with you!

Wouldn't it be crazy if there was a big system underneath the city? How would you like to find that out. Amazing!

[Herman Miller]

sewer leak my @#$%

[George Dasher]

bremen66: Those are my thoughts exactly.

That sinkhole looks to be a karst collapse, not a sewer-related incident.

It is a vertical bedrock shaft, and I think a sewer collapse would be more related to alluvium or fill. I don't see any kind of sewer line at the top of the pit, and I can't imagine any city putting a sewer line 330 feet below the surface. That would be too expensive and... well, what would be the point.

That means it is, in my opinion, a cave, and it might be a significant cave system. The touble is, it is probably a cave system that all the more-shallower storm and sewer systems have been feeding into. So it could be full of s**t.

I also like the fact that it is 330 feet deep. Translation: Someone tied into a rope, walked within 15 feet of the lip, peered over it, and said, "That thing is 100 meters deep."

It'll be interesting to see what the first explorers say about the depth, the geological make up, and the bottom of the pit, if exploration is allowed.

[bigalpha]

Did a google search, and found this link: HERE

If they pulled that 3rd guy out, then perhaps they measured it? It seems like it has been collapsing for a while.

Floating on a river of sewage? Gross.

*ETA

Link to YouTube of some video clips: HERE

[Jep]

Some of these pictures would really be useful here in Lewisburg WV just to show people what could happen. Jep.

[Dane]

"A body appeared in a river of sewage near the sinkhole, but it was unclear whether the corpse was a victim."

Sorry - I believe circumstances dictate that qualifies as a victim!

Assuming the size is constant, you are looking at nearly 50,000 cu meters of material! Seems like that would have shown up on someone's radar before now.
Fact is, sinkholes are seldom cylindrical - they normally bell out below the opening, so the volume increases exponentially.
I agree - this didn't wash out from rain and sewage.

[bigalpha]

Dane, google cenote. It's a special type of sinkhole that has that specific characteristic. They are a really deep cylinder.

I agree, though, that's still a lot of material to be moved. In the article, it said that for over a month, there was a lot of rumbling from underground; no doubt the material moving and collapsing.

[Dane]

I agree that is probably the case, although I didn't think all cenotes were cylindrical.
No, my point was that even assuming a limited diameter and a cylindrical shape, a great deal of material seemed to have disappeared. (The actual volume is probably 2x or 3x what I estimated, again assuming a uniform shape - I didn't know the actual diameter)
To suggest that was caused by a leaky drain pipe and that it occurred over a relatively short period of time seems somewhat disingenuous, so I am surprised that the media accepted it.
I think you are right - this is probably an existing cenote and the drain pipe leak exposed what is now a new entrance!

[Caverdale]

How about sediment piping as a cause for this sinkhole? The sediments in this area are non-lithified volcanic ash, etc., and would be highly mobile when saturated. There are no soluble sediments, such as limestone underneath, so a cenote is not possible. News reports said that the drain was a major sewer and also a storm drain, which could easily provided enough water. The main problem with piping is that it all depends on gravity. I Google-Earthed Guatemala City. It is mainly at an elevation of 4,800 to 5,000 feet, but there are apparently stream channels nearby which are at least 300 feet lower. Water from a broken sewer line could have found an outlet at a lower elevation, and in unconsolidated sediments, that is all it would take. If any of you have watched some of the spectacular results of sediment piping shown on Southern California television during a pipe break you will know what I mean. A cavity beneath is not required, just an outlet at lower elevation.