Pothole

Potholes are annoying. They damage tires, bend rims, mess with your alignment, a really bad one can tear up tie-rods and ball joints.

Then there are really, really bad potholes ...
http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2010/06/holey_guatemala_batman.php

At least it is symetrical.

How many guys leaning on brooms and shovels will be required to supervise while one or two guys do the work?

I saw that "pothole" earlier. Quite a whopper. At first glance I said, BS, that's PhotoShopped.

But apparently not. So I'm just wondering if my insurance would cover the loss. Not really an act of God, since it's all been sucked downwards ... ? Think I could convince a jury?

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EDIT: maybe I wouldn't be so smart@ss if I were down there. Apparently a tropical storm made a big mess, took out 18 major road bridges and cost 178 lives.
http://www.edmontonjournal.com/news/Fallen+bridges+hamper+Guatemala+storm+rescue/3097398/story.html

When I first saw the picture I wasn't sure what I was looking at. Then I thought it might be faked also but there are multiple views from several sources and eye witness testimony.

A pothole, well - technically a sinkhole, just about big enough to pull a Thelma & Louise into. Estimates are, variously, 70' to over 100' wide and 100' to 300' deep. And if only one or two guys work the shovel while the other three stand up supervising it's going to take a while to fill in. That's what they call job security.

If the govt does it the job could take eternity!

We have a friend working down there. It's a very bad situation.

Is it real? I have heard both sides-some saying its faked, others saying its real. It looks pretty symmetrical to me-and the bottom seems to just drop out. Even if its only partially faked-thats still not good. If it were real, I hope no one got swallowed up by that.
What the heck do you fill a hole that size with????

It's real. For a good series of photos on the current disaster in Guatemala, check out The Big Picture. http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2010/06/a_rough_week_for_guatemala.html

They got hit by a volcanic eruption, then a hurricane.

The same hole from another angle.

http://scienceblogs.com/aardvarchaeology/2010/06/more_subterranean_horror_in_gu.php

Large parts of Florida is sinkhole country. The harder limestone crust gets undermined as acidified groundwater eats away at the layers underneath. There have been horror stories of houses sinking out of sight but the sinkholes around here aren't usually so deep and, to anyone paying attention, there are usually clear signs that a sinkhole is about to open up.

Soft spots in the earth, concrete house slabs that are cracking and settling unevenly, Windows and doors that don't work right, surface water draining to cracks or holes in the earth, an odd hollow sound to the earth in a particular spot, the sound of dripping or flowing water are all clues. Funny thing is people often see the signs and live with them, sometimes for generations, but are surprised when the sinkhole opens up.

Around here it is usually during droughts, or after the first rains, when the sinkholes open up. As long as the water stays high the hollows are partially supported and stabilized. When the water level drops the caverns widen. If they get wide enough the hollow expands to the surface and the roof of the hollow falls in.

And, Where did it all go???

From the pictures that's a cylinder of earth at *least* 50' in diameter and 100+' tall. That is a *lot* of dirt to just vanish. There must have been a huge cavern down there that would put even the Government Warehouse in Raiders of the Lost Arc to shame. I wonder how many more such caverns are ready to swallow up that much material?

Well, technically, the void it collapsed into doesn't have to be much larger than the hole. There could also be an unreported water flow at the bottom that gradually washed away parts of it as it fell in from the bottom up, until finally the entire top fell in.

Wasn't there a recent sinkhole in the San Francisco area of similar diameter caused by a broken water main? Not as deep, but about the same diameter?

"I'm just wondering if my insurance would cover the loss. Not really an act of God, since it's all been sucked downwards ... ?

If you live in mining country (current or historical), you need to have 'mine subsidence' coverage in your home insurance policy. There are more homes built over mine shafts than most people suspect. Sometimes a shaft or tunnel collapses and a home falls into it. Seeing a house roof sitting directly on the ground (or in it) is a clue.

Sue