Since homeowners commonly call them sinkholes, we will also. Sinkholes may occur along outside walls or in the lawn or garden. They can have various shapes and sizes and can grow or deepen either slowly or rapidly. In many cases, sinkholes can be repaired by the homeowner.

Sinkholes can be anywhere from a few feet wide and deep, to 2,000 feet in diameter and depth.

Qattara Depression

Filling in the sinkhole Immediately after the sinkhole’s collapse, there were plans to fill it in with a soil cement made from cement, limestone, and water known locally as lodocreto (“mudcrete”). This substance was also used to fill in the 2007 Guatemala City sinkhole.

In many cases, you can fill them up with materials from home improvement stores or landscape suppliers. Sinkholes most commonly occur in karst terrain: regions where limestone, gypsum, salt beds, or other carbonate rock can be dissolved. Water eats away at the rock until a pit is formed.

Sinkholes are common where the rock below the land surface is limestone, carbonate rock, salt beds, or rocks that can naturally be dissolved by groundwater circulating through them. As the rock dissolves, spaces and caverns develop underground.

113 people

According to the 2018 census, 43.56% of the population is Indigenous including 41.66% Mayan, 1.77% Xinca, and 0.13% Garifuna (Mixed African and indigenous).

Many engineers prefer the graded-filter technique, in which the hole is filled with a layer of boulders, then a layer of smaller rocks, and, finally, a layer of gravel. This fills the hole, more or less, while permitting water to drain through the area.

The Guatemala City sinkhole, estimated to be 60 feet (18 meters) wide and 300 feet (100 meters) deep, appears to have been triggered by the deluge from tropical storm Agatha. That means leaking pipes could have gone unfixed long enough to create the right conditions for the sinkhole.

After tropical storm, massive sinkhole swallows building in Guatemala City. Orndorff said that sinkholes are common in places with rocks, such as limestone and gypsum, that can be naturally dissolved by water. In those so-called “karst” areas, caves and voids form underground as the rocks dissolve, he said.

The combination of gravity, loss of buoyancy and water pressure can activate a collapse. By keeping water tables high, water conservation rules and drought restrictions are tools to help prevent sinkholes from occurring.

Holes often occur when the dissolution of bedrock results in a surface depression that collects water. As the depression gathers more water, the water leaks downward and eats away at more bedrock, catalyzing its further dissolution. Eventually a vertical, circular hole forms straight through the bedrock.

The surface collapses may occur abruptly and cause catastrophic damages. New sinkhole collapses can also form when human activity changes the natural water-drainage patterns in karst areas.

When a sinkhole forms near or under your house, you’ll see subtle warning signs. Doors will jam and stop latching. Windows that used to open easily become hard to open, start sticking, or won’t open or close completely. You might notice that your cabinet doors and drawers sit unevenly or won’t open or close properly.

A small sinkhole with minimal damage to the structure may cost anywhere from $10,000 to $15,000. However, sinkholes that cause extensive damage and need a significant amount of work to repair or revive the structure, may be much pricier, costing anywhere from $20,000 to $100,000, or more.