Guatemala sink hole: real or fake?

[RobinFinderson]

There is an underground river/sewer; that's what has eroded the dirt.

This is what I figured. I thought the abrupt line was probably a waterline.

[Guest]

From a friend down in Guatemala...

(In the Cap they're worried about getting around and some ash on the streets. In the countryside a 100k people are displaced and villages have washed away in mudslides - some things are the same all over)

Hola amigos! Dear friends! I am writing to all because I have received some worries notes about our current situation in Guatemala.
Last Thursday May-27th-2010 in the afternoon, Volcán Pacaya which is just next (South) of Guatemala City increase its normal activity to blast explosions that went up in the sky up to 1 kilometer or 0.62 miles. The wind did not help, winds increases and the cloud of ash and volcanic rocks/sand covered all Guatemala City, the State of Sacatepéquez and I am forgetting right now which other state. The ash and volcanic rocks/sand travel all the way to the middle-North-centered States of Baja Verapaz + Izabal in the Atlantic Ocean. To worsen the situation Tropical Storm Agatha hit Central America that same afternoon and it has rained non-stop since that day, Friday the Agatha got harder and today Saturday it has been worst than yesterday. The news said the worst is still to come tomorrow Sunday! Friday we all woke up with shovels and brumes to try to clean the mess. The Government has cleaned most of the main arteries of the City; however less transited streets are still cover now with a bad case of volcanic mud. Many unfortunate people lost their homes in the vicinity of Volcán Pacaya. They are right now located in small refugees in secure areas. The Vocán Pacaya has us in National Disaster Red Alert and as of today Agatha has put the Country in orange emergency alert. Many roads are closed because of mud slides and it is just too dangerous to be around in the city. School and the Intl. Airport are closed until further notice. As far as I know we all in the family and local friends are ok.

[UtahDan]

Where the hell is wuap? I have a feeling he is behind all this somehow.

[Coach McGuirk]

That one is the sinkhole from 3 years ago....

did you miss my sarcasm?

[Babs]

did you miss my sarcasm?

stop with the bloody sarcasm, already!

[DU Ute]

The black void you see at the bottom is probably the underground cavern where all the material from the hole collapsed.

[BoylenOver]

It's real.

AFP: Street-level view of the sinkhole

New York Times: Guatemalan Sinkhole

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(3rd link is for the hi-res photo from the official Flickr feed of the Guatemalan government. The photo is 3888x2592)

[FN Phat]

How deep is the hole?

[falafel]

How deep is the hole?

I've heard anywhere between 60 ft to 200 ft deep.

[SeattleUte]

A benefit of functioning capitalism: proper drainage.

[RobinFinderson]

A benefit of functioning capitalism: proper drainage.

More like a benefit of functioning regulation. Under pure capitalism, proper drainage only happens when the cost/benefit analysis favors it as a protection of one's investment.

[RC Vikings]

It looks like a lava tube that's gone vertical.

[KillerDog]

More like a benefit of functioning regulation. Under pure capitalism, proper drainage only happens when the cost/benefit analysis favors it as a protection of one's investment.

Wouldn't it always favor it?

[Scott R Nelson]

From a friend down in Guatemala...

Last Thursday May-27th-2010 in the afternoon, Volcán Pacaya which is just next (South) of Guatemala City increase its normal activity to blast explosions that went up in the sky up to 1 kilometer or 0.62 miles.

That volcano went off in 1973 when I was there. One day there was a narrow smoke plume going straight up from the volcano and the next day half of the sky on the downwind side was all smoke and ash.

I took a couple of photos of it at night showing a bit of orange glow - the best I could do with my pathetic camera at the time. When you got closer to it you could hear a low frequency booming sound from it.

That sinkhole reminds me of the cenotes in the Yucatan peninsula.