Sinkhole in Guatemala City: Epic Superhero Battle Collateral Damage

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A massive sinkhole in Guatemala City has drawn significant attention, with reports indicating it swallowed a three-story building, highlighting the tragedy for its occupants. The hole's perfectly round shape has led to debates about its formation, with some questioning whether it is a true sinkhole or a geological anomaly. Observers note that the surrounding ground appears to be consistent, suggesting a possible underground cavern collapse rather than typical erosion. The event has sparked various theories, including humorous references to superhero battles and geological phenomena. Overall, the sinkhole represents a significant geological event that has left many astonished and concerned about its implications for the city.
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Looks fake is this suppost to be real?
 
In karst areas such things happen.
 
We are happy someone posted this.
Wondering how this can be naturally made so perfectly round?
 
looks like one of those holes the Silver Surfer made in the Earth in Fantastic Four II


---that's going to take a lot of truckloads of dirt/garbage to fill in
 
I saw the photo on the news this morning and was astounded! They said it swallowed a 3-story building. So, while I'm completely amazed at the size of this thing, I also think of the tragedy of it for the occupants of that building.

It really does look like something from a cartoon. I too was surprised that something so deep was also so perfectly round. The roof of an absolutely HUGE cavern must have just opened up.

What do you do with something like that? Oh, wait, I think BP just found a hole big enough for all the oil and saltwater mix they're scooping out of the Gulf.
 
Moonbear said:
I saw the photo on the news this morning and was astounded! They said it swallowed a 3-story building. So, while I'm completely amazed at the size of this thing, I also think of the tragedy of it for the occupants of that building.

It really does look like something from a cartoon. I too was surprised that something so deep was also so perfectly round. The roof of an absolutely HUGE cavern must have just opened up.

What do you do with something like that? Oh, wait, I think BP just found a hole big enough for all the oil and saltwater mix they're scooping out of the Gulf.

yeah, the ground (the layering of strata) in the area must be unusually consistent all the way down to the cavern

--luckily the hole BP is trying to fill is smaller
 
More info here:
http://www.guatemalasinkhole.org/
 
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  • #10
I question whether this was actually a sink hole, because how could such a feature have been formed naturally?? If it were a sinkhole it would be cone shaped and be wider and more open at the top getting narrower with depth -- this looks pretty much like a cylindrical borehole. If this is natural, then how could such a feature form?

For my money this cannot be a "top-down" feature (which sinkholes are), because what on Earth would possesses someone to build something over a big old hole like that? There must've been ground there originally which covered the hole -- so builders suspected nothing unusual at this location. Surely then this feature must've formed from below and have been pushing its way up to the surface? I would guess this was an underground cave whose roof collapsed.

If you look to the left and right sides of the hole you will see vertical lines projecting vertically downwards. For my money those lines are a geological fault, along which water might have been able to flow (in fact if you look closely it looks like the rock either side of those lines is darker so could well be saturated with water -- which suggests to me that this IS a water bearing fault). That makes sense, because you need the water to get the erosion. What I can't figure out is how this feature is not more elongated in the direction of the fault. This is a very curious feature.
 
  • #11
billiards said:
I question whether this was actually a sink hole, because how could such a feature have been formed naturally?? If it were a sinkhole it would be cone shaped and be wider and more open at the top getting narrower with depth -- this looks pretty much like a cylindrical borehole. If this is natural, then how could such a feature form?

For my money this cannot be a "top-down" feature (which sinkholes are), because what on Earth would possesses someone to build something over a big old hole like that? There must've been ground there originally which covered the hole -- so builders suspected nothing unusual at this location. Surely then this feature must've formed from below and have been pushing its way up to the surface? I would guess this was an underground cave whose roof collapsed.

If you look to the left and right sides of the hole you will see vertical lines projecting vertically downwards. For my money those lines are a geological fault, along which water might have been able to flow (in fact if you look closely it looks like the rock either side of those lines is darker so could well be saturated with water -- which suggests to me that this IS a water bearing fault). That makes sense, because you need the water to get the erosion. What I can't figure out is how this feature is not more elongated in the direction of the fault. This is a very curious feature.

I'll take that bet
 
  • #14
I mean really would you even go near this thing? I'd be so worried about the rest of the city caving in with it.
 
  • #15
Holy crap, that thing looks photoshopped, it is so profoundly disturbing! I know it isn't, but it's still shocking. I've been in that city too... damn.
 
  • #17
As if the people of Guatemala don't have it hard enough, these poor people must have spent their last moments in abject terror. :(
 
  • #18
Here is one from 2007. It was also round?

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/02/070226-sinkhole-photo.html
 
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  • #19
edward said:
Here is one from 2007. It was also round?

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/02/070226-sinkhole-photo.html

OK! That's it.... KNOCK IT OFF WITH THAT SMOTTIN UP THERE!

omg, please don't smack me for that. :rolleyes:
 
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  • #21
Lacy33 said:
We are happy someone posted this.
Wondering how this can be naturally made so perfectly round?


3460ohx.jpg
 
  • #22
Ya know Lisa, I was thinking something like this but didn't want to say. We in trouble! :smile:
 
  • #23
LOL LISA!

Omg this is possibly one of the most incredible things I've ever seen on PF... in my life even. Unbelievable. At first I thought it was just photoshopped :smile:. On the website for updates posted it states only one confirmed death...
 
  • #24
Q_Goest said:
More info here:
http://www.guatemalasinkhole.org/

I asked for the coordinates and they posted them. Coordinates appear to be slightly east of the hole which is at the 2 o clock position in Chi's http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/05/31/dot-shot-sinkhole-in-guatemala-city/".

Update#3: A viewer was asking for the Guatemala Sinkhole Coordinates, and it is roughly in the north eastern part of the city at: 14° 39′ 7.5″ N, 90° 30′ 21.5″ W.
 
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  • #25
lisab said:
3460ohx.jpg

Tremors or Dune, I am laughing my ****s right off! I didn't think there was a funny to be found here; I was wrong. :)
 
  • #26
billiards said:
I question whether this was actually a sink hole, because how could such a feature have been formed naturally?? If it were a sinkhole it would be cone shaped and be wider and more open at the top getting narrower with depth -- this looks pretty much like a cylindrical borehole.
Tossing it into Photoshop for a brightness adjustment reveals it is, in fact, conical...
 

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  • #27
When I first saw the image, I too though it was a hoax/photoshop/something. It's too round and the tube seems too neatly sheared. But, um, what's it open into? That's a cavernous space below the tube, yes? So, it's, what? Anyone know?
 
  • #28
I can't believe that nobody made this connection.

[PLAIN]http://pix.motivatedphotos.com/2010/6/1/634109771831533600-Andsoitbegins.jpg
 
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  • #29
Borg? I thought some folk were more worried about a "black hole" being created from collisions at CERN. If that is a "black hole" then even I might be able to do some physics. :approve:
 
  • #30
Lacy33 said:
Borg? I thought some folk were more worried about a "black hole" being created from collisions at CERN. If that is a "black hole" then even I might be able to do some physics. :approve:

I was waiting for someone to say that an accident at the LHC caused a particle stream to be directed at Guatemala or some such silliness to go along with the other pictures of cats and worms. This was the closest that I found. :-p
 
  • #31
Borg said:
I was waiting for someone to say that an accident at the LHC caused a particle stream to be directed at Guatemala or some such silliness to go along with the other pictures of cats and worms. This was the closest that I found. :-p

I think that COBRA is just testing their new Weather Dominator. :biggrin:
 
  • #32
Borg said:
I was waiting for someone to say that an accident at the LHC caused a particle stream to be directed at Guatemala or some such silliness to go along with the other pictures of cats and worms. This was the closest that I found. :-p

NO! Borg... It was good, It was really good. I was still slapped stupid from Lisab's picture :smile: and should have waited to comment on anything.
One can imagine my report cards from the two years of grammer school I attended:
"Does not play well with other children." :rolleyes:
 
  • #33
Somebody should buy it and make a commercial bungy jump into it
 
  • #34
the first links mentioned something about volcanic activity. old lava tube, maybe?
 
  • #36
I'm not gona believe this isn't photoshopped until I see it with my own eyes even then I'll probably still think somethings up.
 
  • #38
This is all over CNN, with video, it's real. I just can't get over the fact that it looks BOTTOMLESS! I realize it isn't, but for a deeply catholic nation, this must be one of those "god is pissed!" moments.
 
  • #39
Reminds me of the sacrificial well at Chichen Itza, Mexico, where many hapless were tossed in with their hearts carved out, followed by mounds of gold.
 
  • #41
Did anyone see a dragon or satan in that area lately?
 
  • #42
magpies said:
Did anyone see a dragon or satan in that area lately?

Well I heard "the devil went down to Georgia." But think he has been seen in the gulf waters lately. Why? You think that hole is some kind of portal? I thought that was downtown on wall street.
 
  • #43
A "piping feature", not a sinkhole, says geologist

The Guatemalan resident geologist Sam Bonis is exasperated that the hole in Guatemala city is called a "sinkhole" a term which, apparently, implies that the bedrock is essentially solid, having been gradually eaten away by the groundwater in unpredictable ways.

The ground beneath Guatemala city is actually mostly pumice fill, basically from volcanic ash.


Bonis was part of a 2007 team setting up recommendations after a similarly holey incident.
Thus, he thinks this disaster is as much about human fault, rather than a vengeful mother nature.

http://news.discovery.com/earth/dont-call-the-guatemala-sinkhole-a-sinkhole.html
 
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  • #44
Thank you for that arildno. Proton Soup mentioned the possibility of "volcanic activity" being something to do with it. I invested a lot of time reading about that yesterday. It's all very interesting.
But yet another accident because of human error?? How much of this already?
 
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  • #45
Lacy33 said:
Thank you for that arildno. Proton Soup mentioned the possibility of "volcanic activity" being something to do with it. I invested a lot of time reading about that yesterday. It's all very interesting.
But yet another accident because of human error?? How much of this already?

i believe guatemala is very poor, so much more to come, probably
 
  • #46
Proton Soup said:
i believe guatemala is very poor, so much more to come, probably

Having spent some time there, I can indeed confirm that they are VERY VERY poor, and predictive geology and city planning probably rates somewhere right behind alms for the poor. Guatemala City makes Mexico City look like the Paris Metro.
 
  • #47
Up date:
I give up!
 
  • #48
Lacy33 said:
Up date:
I give up!

Well, consider their sewerage, and water system, which is, if I remember, clay and sometimes even wooden. That would allow seeps to slowly erode the fill, especially in urban areas. Does that help at all?
 
  • #49
http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/2010/0...d-by-what-to-do-with-giant-Guatemala-sinkhole

The country has some experience with large sinkholes, as it turns out. In 2007, a 330-foot-deep sinkhole opened up in Barrio San Antonio, just 15 blocks away from the current one in Ciudad Nueva. That sinkhole is thought to have been caused by a broken storm drain pipe that over time weakened and washed away the ground above it.
 

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