2010 Guatemala City sinkhole

The 2010 Guatemala City sinkhole was a disaster in which an area approximately 65 ft (20 m) across and 100 ft (30 m) deep collapsed in Guatemala City's Zona 2, swallowing a three-story factory. The sinkhole occurred for a combination of reasons, including Tropical Storm Agatha, the Pacaya Volcano eruption, and leakage from sewer pipes.
Overall, the risk of sinkholes occurring in Guatemala City is high and unpredictable. One recent, similar sinkhole had collapsed in 2007, forming a pit 100 metres deep. The 2007 Guatemala City sinkhole was formed by fluid from a sewer eroding uncemented volcanic ash, limestone, and other pyroclastic deposits underlying Guatemala City. The hazards around the pipe have since then been mitigated, by improved handling of the city's wastewater and runoff. Several rainstorms also contributed to the sinkhole's collapse, as stormwater percolated into the ground, further dissolving the rocks beneath Guatemala City. The 2010 sinkhole was formed for similar reasons.
The sinkhole formed due to volcanic pumice deposits, upon which Guatemala City is built. These deposits were unconsolidated and of low density, allowing easy erosion. According to Sam Bonis, a geologist at Dartmouth College, leaking pipes went unfixed long enough to create the conditions necessary for sinkhole formation because of lax city zoning regulations and building codes. Bonis also says that the Guatemala City sinkhole is a misnomer: sinkholes have natural causes, but this one was mainly artificial. In addition, according to Bonis, sinkholes are usually formed from limestone but there is no limestone hundreds of metres underneath Guatemala City. Bonis proposes that the sinkhole be renamed a piping feature.


Tropical Storm Agatha was first identified as a trough of low pressure of the western coast of Costa Rica on May 24, 2010. On May 29, the depression intensified into a tropical storm and was given the name Agatha.Later that day, the system intensified slightly before making landfall near the Mexico-Guatemala border with winds of 45 mph (75 km/h). By the morning of May 30, the center of Agatha moved over the highest terrain in Central America, resulting in the dissipation of the low-level circulation. Torrential rains from the storm widened the cavity, eventually causing the collapse of the sinkhole.


On May 27, three days before Agatha became a tropical depression, the Pacaya volcano, located about 25 mi (40 km) south of Guatemala City, erupted, killing at least one person and blanketing nearby areas with layers of ash. The eruption prompted officials to shut down the country's international airport. Upon the formation of Agatha, people feared that excessive rainfall from the storm could exaggerate the situation and trigger lahars. This had the effect of clogging the underground pipes with soot, increasing the chances of pipe rupture.

Mariela Castañón, a reporter for the daily newspaper La Hora, reported that the ground collapsed suddenly, taking a three-story house that was used as a factory and a security guard with it. Electricity poles were also sucked in. Authorities said they could not confirm the security guard's death.

The sinkhole's collapse in Guatemala City's Zona 2 left at least 15 dead, and a further 300 residents' lives were put at risk.Because of the role played by sewage pipes in the sinkhole's collapse, Sam Bonis, along with other geologists, has demanded that the government inspect the sewer system more regularly.

According to officials, the sinkhole had similarities with another Guatemalan sinkhole which collapsed in 2007, which may also have been formed by ruptured sewage pipes.

On a wider scale, immediately following reports of fatalities due to Agatha, a state of emergency was declared for Guatemala. On May 31, national aid started to be deployed by the government and donation centers for victims of the storm were opened across the country. According to the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), schools in Guatemala were to be closed until at least June 4

2007 Guatemala City sinkhole

The 2007 Guatemala City sinkhole is a 100-metre deep sinkhole which formed in Guatemala City in 2007, due to sewage pipe ruptures. Its collapse caused the deaths of five people, and the evacuation of over a thousand.

The sinkhole was created by fluid from a sewer eroding uncemented volcanic ash, limestone, and other pyroclastic 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 system, and have speculated that more piping failures are likely to develop unless action is taken.

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.

On February 23, 2007, 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 100 metres (330 ft) deep. As a result, one thousand people were evacuated from the area.[8] Police established a 500-yard (457-meter) no-go zone around the sinkhole. The hole was later filled in with soil cement made from cement, limestone, and water 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.

Great Blue Hole

The Great Blue Hole is a large submarine sinkhole off the coast of Belize. It lies near the center of Lighthouse Reef, a small atoll 70 km (43 mi) from the mainland and Belize City. The hole is circular in shape, over 300 m (984 ft) across and 124 m (407 ft) deep.It was formed during several episodes of quaternary glaciation when sea levels were much lower. Analysis of stalactites found in Great Blue Hole shows that formation took place 153,000; 66,000; 60,000; and 15,000 years ago. As the ocean began to rise again, the cave was flooded. The Great Blue Hole is a part of the larger Belize Barrier Reef Reserve System, a World Heritage Site of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

This site was made famous by Jacques Cousteau, who declared it one of the top ten scuba diving sites in the world. In 1971, he brought his ship, the Calypso, to the hole to chart its depths. Investigations by this expedition confirmed the hole's origin as typical karst limestone formations, formed before rises in sea level in at least four stages, leaving ledges at depths of 21 m (69 ft), 49 m (161 ft), and 91 m (299 ft). Stalactites were retrieved from submerged caves, confirming their previous formation above sea level. Some of these stalactites were also off-vertical by 5˚ in a consistent orientation, indicating that there had also been some past geological shift and tilting of the underlying plateau, followed by a long period in the current plane.

Initial measured depth of Great Blue Hole was 125 m (410 ft) which is the most often cited depth up to this day. An expedition by the Cambrian Foundation in 1997 measured the hole's depth as 124 m (407 ft) at its deepest point. This difference in measurement can be explained by ongoing sedimentation or by imprecision in measurements. The expedition's goal was to collect core samples from the Blue Hole's floor and document the cave system. To accomplish these tasks, all of the divers had to be certified in cave diving and mixed gases.

The actual name of “The Great Blue Hole” was created by British diver and author Ned Middleton after having lived in the country for six months. So impressed with this natural feature, he reasoned in his book “Ten Years Underwater” (Immel Publishing 1988, ISBN 0907151434) that if Australia could have ‘The Great Barrier Reef’ then Belize could equally have ‘The Great Blue Hole’ – thus setting this feature apart from similar, albeit smaller structures. This was later reinforced by his second book “Diving Belize”

Dean's Blue Hole

Dean's Blue Hole is the world's deepest known salt water blue hole with an entrance below the sea level. It plunges 202 metres (663 ft) in a bay west of Clarence Town on Long Island, Bahamas.

Blue hole is a term for water-filled sinkholes with the entrance below the water level. They can be formed in different karst processes, for example, by the rainwater soaking through fractures of limestone bedrock onto the watertable. Sea level here has changed: for example, during the glacial age during the Pleistocene epoch (ice age), some 15,000 years ago, sea level was considerably lower. The maximum depth of most other known blue holes and sinkholes is 110 metres (360 ft), which makes the 202 metres (663 ft) depth of Dean's Blue Hole quite exceptional.

Dean's Blue Hole is roughly circular at the surface, with a diameter ranging from 25 to 35 metres (82–115 ft). After descending 20 metres (66 ft), the hole widens considerably into a cavern with a diameter of 100 metres (330 ft).

There are several freshwater water-filled sinkholes on land that are deeper than Dean's Blue Hole. These include the 270 m (890 ft) Boesmansgat in South Africa, Mexico '​s Zacatón at 335 metres (1,099 ft) and the 392 metres (1,286 ft) Pozzo del Merro in Italy.