Tropical Storm Agatha ripped through Central America this weekend, causing flooding and landslides across the region. 150 people have been killed and thousands are homeless, according to NPR. But the most shocking photo from the scene is of a giant sinkhole that opened up in Guatemala City.
The sinkhole swallowed an entire intersection, taking a whole building with it. It’s so deep that you can’t even see the bottom – and there are reports that this is only one of a collection of sinkholes the capital city. Some people thought that these photos had to be Photoshopped, but this photo came from the government’s official Flickr photostream. News reports indicated that no one was killed by the sinkhole itself.
Why do sinkholes happen? Sinkholes are created when the underlying limestone or similar rock is eroded away by water that creates subsurface caves and caverns. The ground above the eroding rock then falls into the space. According to Wikipedia, these sinkholes can be dramatic because the surface land usually stays intact until there is not enough support. Then a sudden collapse of the land surface can occur, as it did in Guatemala City.
Tropical Storm Agatha was the first of the season – and it was powerful. Emergency crews struggled to reach isolated communities cut off by washed-out roads and collapsed bridges. To donate money for the relief efforts, go to the World Food Programme.
How did the sinkhole happen?