Strange "Sinkhole" in Tropical storm - 115 Dead

[Guardian]

Does anyone have the measurements of the two holes...and if so, are they the same size?

[Laura]

Here's the Mars image:

[3D Resident]

According to Wikipedia, another sinkhole appeared back in February 2007, also about 100 m deep, due to a sewer dissolving the rock underneath. A geologist would no doubt be able to tell you something about the rock type in the area and how it's susceptible to this kind of thing.

"In February 2007 a large sinkhole opened in a poor neighborhood in northeast Guatemala city, killing three people. The sinkhole was 100.5 m (330 ft) deep, and apparently was created by fluid from a sewer dissolving the rock underneath. As a result, one thousand people have been evacuated from the area.[21] The sink hole has since been mitigated and plans to develop on the site have been proposed. Another sinkhole, which was larger than a street intersection, developed in May 2010 after Tropical Storm Agatha. It engulfed a three story building and a house.[22]

[Dawn]

Update; the deathtoll is up to nearly 150 people. I should have read more carefully, as indeed there was no hurricane, although they did mention the Pacaya volcano in this version:

_h:ttp://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/06/01/central.america.storm.deaths/index.html?hpt=C1

[Guardian]

"In February 2007 a large sinkhole opened in a poor neighborhood in northeast Guatemala city, killing three people. The sinkhole was 100.5 m (330 ft) deep, and apparently was created by fluid from a sewer dissolving the rock underneath. As a result, one thousand people have been evacuated from the area.[21] The sink hole has since been mitigated and plans to develop on the site have been proposed. Another sinkhole, which was larger than a street intersection, developed in May 2010 after Tropical Storm Agatha. It engulfed a three story building and a house.[22]

What I find odd is that NONE of the reports I'm reading give the circumference of the holes...not even an estimate.  They say how deep they are (allegedly) but no other measurements.  Why not?  

[domi]

Pipeslines? Underground empty space?

The first thing that came to my mind was if this was some satellite based weapon doing a test because the hole was so round and the walls are so cylindrical as if something was overhead beaming down.

[Laura]

Okay, there are, it seems, quite a few perfectly round sinkholes like these.  They are caused by slightly acidic ground water passing through limestone.   Water apparently tends to form round holes.  Here's a few links with images:

http://startrekguide.com/community/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=8632

http://www.swfwmd.state.fl.us/hydrology/sinkholes/

http://www.greatarchaeology.com/news/2009/02/archaeological-study-of-a-limestone-sinkhole/

http://www.lonelyplanetimages.com/images/209510

http://www.indiana.edu/~r317doc/dr/cenote/cenotehome.html

http://scribalterror.blogs.com/scribal_terror/2007/07/the-blue-hole-o.html

http://mail.colonial.net/~hkaiter/wxerosglacier.html

http://www.thelegendsinn.com/devils_sinkhole_state_natural_area

http://www.americanegypt.com/feature/cities/chichenitza/cenote.htm

[Guardian]

Okay, there are, it seems, quite a few perfectly round sinkholes like these.  They are caused by slightly acidic ground water passing through limestone.   Water apparently tends to form round holes.  Here's a few links with images:

Sounds like a logical explanation for the two recent holes...except where did the water go?

I'm struck by the fact that there aren't any pictures showing the insides of the holes that I've been able to find?  Not even any edge shots.

I could be seeing things, but these two still look exactly like giant mole holes to me, complete with the brushy back patterns and claw marks on the side one of them.  It would be interesting to see if the two in Guatemala are the same size, but I still haven't found any measurements for them.

[Guardian]

Pipeslines? Underground empty space?

The first thing that came to my mind was if this was some satellite based weapon doing a test because the hole was so round and the walls are so cylindrical as if something was overhead beaming down.

I just realized these sink holes are a weird sorta Rorschach test.  I think of a big critter, you suggest a space weapon,  Laura's looking at geological explanations, Dawn's thinking of tunnels. 

This is funny....we could call it the "Sink Hole Psych Test"   

[Eboard10]

Very impressive

_http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jun/01/storm-agatha-hole-guatemala

Tropical Storm Agatha swept across Central America yesterday, bringing torrential rain that killed more than 100 people and opened a 60m-deep sinkhole in Guatemala City which reportedly swallowed up a three-storey building.

The first named storm of the 2010 Pacific season dumped more than a metre of rain in parts of Guatemala, also hitting El Salvador and Honduras. At least 113 people were reported killed, with around 50 missing in Guatemala alone as rescue workers searched through the rubble.

The 30m-diameter sinkhole opened up in a northern district of Guatemala City, with residents blaming the rains and substandard drainage systems. Local reports said one man was killed when the building was swallowed. In 2007, three people died when a similar sinkhole appeared in the same area.

Guatemala was the worst affected country, with a confirmed death toll of 92, although that is likely to rise when rescuers reach remote villages. Almost 100,000 people have been evacuated from their homes. Nine people were confirmed killed in El Salvador and 12 in Honduras.

"I've got no one to help me. I watched the water take everything," Carlota Ramos told Reuters outside her mud-swamped brick house in Amatitlán, a town near the Guatemalan capital.

[Pashalis]

A few months ago i have seen a information in the News, here in Germany about a Sinkhole that appeared overnight .
I never heard of that before.

Here is a Link, you can see one of this Sinkholes here in Germany http://www.flickr.com/photos/matthiashn/4603553599/this particular Sinkhole is 7 metre wide and 6 metre deep (the specified dates are variegate, other sources say it's 8 metre deep)
In the local newsletter of this region they say that this Sinkhole is "In this dimension unusual" (maybe for this region?) 

Here's another one: http://www.tlz.de/startseite/detail/-/specific/Riesiger-Erdfall-riss-Acker-in-die-Tiefe-466894868 20 metre wide 10 metre deep (specified dates variegate again even within this Link :12 metre deep under the Photo on the bottom !)

Could it be that this Sinkhole phenomenon increase?

[Gandalf]

A few months ago i have seen a information in the News, here in Germany about a Sinkhole that appeared overnight .
I never heard of that before.

Here is a Link, you can see one of this Sinkholes here in Germany http://www.flickr.com/photos/matthiashn/4603553599/this particular Sinkhole is 7 metre wide and 6 metre deep (the specified dates are variegate, other sources say it's 8 metre deep)
In the local newsletter of this region they say that this Sinkhole is "In this dimension unusual" (maybe for this region?)  

Here's another one: http://www.tlz.de/startseite/detail/-/specific/Riesiger-Erdfall-riss-Acker-in-die-Tiefe-466894868 20 metre wide 10 metre deep (specified dates variegate again even within this Link :12 metre deep under the Photo on the bottom !)

Could it be that this Sinkhole phenomenon increase?

Hi Pashalis,

I merged your post in this thread.

[Mona]

On the Global news today in Calgary, the story that was reported in regards to this sinkhole also included that it is not known if there was a building located where the sinkhole occured. I was a surprised to hear that because the news on the internet mention that there was a house and a 3 story building. There are many ways to find out if there was a building located there, why they would say such a crazy thing that it is not known if there was one is just too strange.

[Mona]

Could the sinkhole have been caused by a tunnel boring machine from the inside. I read a book 'Underwater and Underground bases' by Richard Sauder, and in his book he goes into a lot of different kinds of boring machines, he also writes about secret underground bases throughout the US (Cheyenne mountain, Los Alamos etc.) and other parts of the world. I remember him saying that the technology, I wish I had Laura's photographic memory ( it would come in so handy, instead I had to grab the book), is also being used for hydroelectric projects, the Chukha power plant in the Hymalayan Mountains of Bhutan is contained in a cavern 448 feet long/80 feet wide/134 feet high. The mountain dam in British Columbia is 400 feet underground, measures 66.5 feet wide, 152.5 feet high and 890 feet long. Maybe there was some kind of a machine being used underground at the time and they had an accident with it. Or maybe it was a space based weapon. There is just something not right with this sinkhole. Can anyone see a rat coming out of it?

[aleana]

This reminded me of another sinkhole that was reported near Houston in 2008 in the small town of Daisetta.  I found an article from Jan 2009 where geologists are still trying to decide the cause.

_http://www.beaumontenterprise.com/news/local/geologists_descend_on_daisetta_to_discuss_sinkhole_01-17-2009.html?showFullArticle=y

Apparently the town sits in the center of a massive salt dome and there are also a number of injection wells nearby for disposal of oil production waste. Also the town received quite a lot of abuse from Hurricane IKE - but the geologists are only speculating and won't say for sure what caused it.

Could the sinkhole have been caused by a tunnel boring machine from the inside. I read a book 'Underwater and Underground bases' by Richard Sauder, and in his book he goes into a lot of different kinds of boring machines, he also writes about secret underground bases throughout the US (Cheyenne mountain, Los Alamos etc.) and other parts of the world.

I was wondering along those same lines - but not sure if they are working outside the US.  Maybe this is a result  of natural formations underground that are responding somehow to the oceanic volcanoes?  I really don't know enough about how that works really to make any educated guess, though.