Guatemala Sinkhole Pictures | Guatemala Crater

Here are Guatemala sinkhole pictures as released by the Government of Guatemala. This Guatemala crater just suddenly appeared in the northern part of Guatemala City after the zone was hit by tropical storm Agatha. Since the sinkhole appeared in an intersection, there were no casualties as a result. Look at the pictures below. I wondered how deep is this Guatemala sinkhole. What could have happened if this Guatemala crater appeared in a populated residential area at night time. I don't want to think about it.

According to nachi.org, there are two types of sinkholes - the natural sinkholes and the human-induced sinkholes.

1. Natural sinkholes are formed when sub-surface rock dissolves to create underground cavities. They are most often found where the rock below the land surface is limestone, dolomite, carbonate rock, salt beds, or rocks that can be naturally dissolved by circulating groundwater. In the U.S., natural sinkholes are most common in Florida where karst (limestone) geography is an ingrained part of the landscape. Other states where natural sinkholes are likely to be found are Texas, Alabama, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee and Pennsylvania. Natural sinkholes often form following a period of heavy or prolonged rain. They may also form following a period of drought, which can lower the water table and expose cavities.
2. Human-induced sinkholes are consequences of land-use practices, especially water-pumping and construction. Other types of human-induced sinkholes result from:

• abandoned septic tanks. Even as communities modernize and switch from septic to sewer systems, the old septic tanks may remain in place. The concrete cover may eventually crack and break down, allowing the earth above to drop suddenly, especially beneath the weight of a person. In one week in 2004, two such incidents occurred in New Jersey and in Texas, claiming the lives of a 2-year-old girl and a 92-year-old woman. Check with the local zoning office, which should know whether the house was built before sewer lines came into the neighborhood, which would indicate the possible presence of an abandoned septic tank;
• decaying, buried organic material, such as tree roots or trash. In 1993, a 7-year-old New Jersey boy fell to his death in his front yard after the ground beneath him gave way. A vein of tree debris, which had been dumped there many years before, had formed air pockets into which the soil gradually seeped, leaving a weakened surface that appeared solid;
• collapsed mines;
• over-pumping existing water supply wells, or drilling additional wells in close proximity, thereby lowering the aquifer; and
• the period following housing development, which adds pressure to the supporting earth.