The 2007 Guatemala City sinkhole is a deep

sinkhole A sinkhole is a depression or hole in the ground caused by some form of collapse of the surface layer. The term is sometimes used to refer to doline, enclosed depressions that are locally also known as ''vrtače'' and shakeholes, and to openi ...

which formed in

Guatemala City Guatemala City ( es, Ciudad de Guatemala), known locally as Guatemala or Guate, is the capital and largest city of Guatemala, and the most populous urban area in Central America. The city is located in the south-central part of the country, nest ...

in 2007, due to sewage pipe ruptures. Its collapse caused the deaths of five people, and the evacuation of over a thousand.

Formation

The sinkhole was created by fluid from a sewer eroding uncemented

volcanic ash Volcanic ash consists of fragments of rock, mineral crystals, and volcanic glass, created during volcano, volcanic eruptions and measuring less than 2 mm (0.079 inches) in diameter. The term volcanic ash is also often loosely used t ...

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

, and other

pyroclastic Pyroclastic rocks (derived from the el, πῦρ, links=no, meaning fire; and , meaning broken) are clastic rocks composed of rock fragments produced and ejected by explosive volcanic eruptions. The individual rock fragments are known as pyroc ...

deposits underlying Guatemala City. The hazards around the pipe have since then been mitigated, by improved handling of the city's wastewater and runoff, and plans to develop on the site have been proposed. However, critics believe municipal authorities have neglected needed maintenance on the city's aging

sewerage Sewerage (or sewage system) is the infrastructure that conveys sewage or surface runoff (stormwater, meltwater, rainwater) using sewers. It encompasses components such as receiving drainage, drains, manholes, pumping stations, storm overflows, a ...

system, and have speculated that more piping failures are likely to develop unless action is taken. Guatemala city sinkhole 2007 composite view

Several rainstorms also contributed to the sinkhole's collapse, as stormwater percolated into the ground, further dissolving the rocks beneath Guatemala City. Citizens of Guatemala City near the sinkhole also reported hearing rumblings a few weeks before its collapse. The INSIVUMEH (Guatemala's seismology institute) had placed a seismic meter there before the disaster; a robotic camera system was supposed to enter the cavity, but the disaster occurred first.

Collapse

On 23February2007, the sinkhole collapsed, forming a very large, deep circular hole with vertical walls and killing five people. Its location was in a poor neighbourhood in northeastern Guatemala City, at the intersection of 24 Avenida and 6 Calle. This hole, which is classified by geologists as a " piping pseudokarst" feature, was deep. As a result, one thousand people were evacuated from the area. Police established a no-go zone around the sinkhole. The hole was later filled in with

soil cement Soil cement is a construction material, a mix of pulverized natural soil with small amount of portland cement and water, usually processed in a tumbler, compacted to high density. Hard, semi-rigid durable material is formed by hydration of the ce ...

made from

cement A cement is a binder, a chemical substance used for construction that sets, hardens, and adheres to other materials to bind them together. Cement is seldom used on its own, but rather to bind sand and gravel ( aggregate) together. Cement mix ...

, and

water Water (chemical formula ) is an inorganic, transparent, tasteless, odorless, and nearly colorless chemical substance, which is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known living organisms (in which it acts as a ...

known locally as ''lodocreto''. $2.7 million was spent by the Guatemalan government in order to fill the sinkhole and to redirect sewage pipes around the area.

References

{{Guatemala topics 2007 natural disasters 21st century in Guatemala City 21st-century sinkholes 2007 in Guatemala Natural disasters in Guatemala Landforms of Guatemala Sinkholes of North America