Why Do so Many Sink Holes Occur in Guatemala?

Why have so many sink holes appeared in Guatemala over the past several years? Some conspiracy theorists believe that the government (either ours or theirs) are conducting secret experiments which cause them to appear. The unbelievably deep holes have been known to swallow up whole houses and even intersections, but the real answer has more to do with geology than with any government conspiracy.

In fact, many sinkholes develop over hundreds or even thousands of years. Water is to blame, as it can seep underground and hollow out huge caves, which sometimes open up to the surface with horrific results. Some geological areas with layered earth have limestone deposits which are more easily washed away than others. In addition, human activity such as pumping oil and water from the ground may be the final straw on the camel's back that causes the ground to give way. Many sinkholes develop are due to occult leakage of water underground, perhaps from a leaking water or sewer pipe, which slowly eat away at dirt.

The sinkhole in Guatemala City developed after a rainstorm due to Hurricane Agatha. Likely, movement of huge amounts of water weakened the remaining dirt above the sink hole so that it collapsed. Southern states in the United States also experience sinkholes with some frequency, thus indicating that the existing geology is of prime importance.

While sinkholes often appear in an instant, there are sometimes warning signs which include unusual holes, cracks in the ground, fence posts or trees or other structures which are tilting or becoming exposed due to shifting ground, and strange depressions in addition to many other signs. Property owners should take note of such signs and ask for professional evaluation as sinkholes can be quite dangerous and lead to serious injury and even death.

As there are a variety of imaging and sensing modalities which can detect unexposed sink holes, perhaps that technology should be applied to urban areas with high population densities, such as Guatemala City, in order to prevent a similar catastrophe from happening again.

Sources:

http://trueslant.com/erikkain/2010/06/01/sinkholes-and-secret-government-experiments/

http://www.smh.com.au/world/hole-that-swallowed-a-threestorey-building-20100601-wvgg.html

http://www.inspectapedia.com/vision/Sink_hole_Detection.htm