Moment enormous 300ft wide 60ft deep sinkhole opens up in Mexico sending residents fleeing
- The sinkhole appeared in a field in Santa Maria Zacatepec on Saturday
- Video footage shows locals running as the ground falls away and hole widens
- Mexican authorities say the sinkhole was caused by a geological fault
- However, local activists say phenomenon was the result of overuse of aquifers
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This is the moment an enormous 300ft wide and 60ft deep sinkhole opened up in Mexico, sending panicked residents fleeing from the area.
The sinkhole appeared in a field in Santa Maria Zacatepec, state of Puebla, Mexico, on Saturday.
The incident was caught on camera, showing the ground falling away.
As the sinkhole widens and chunks of the earth fall away, onlookers run to safety as screams can be heard.
This is the moment an enormous 300ft wide and 60ft deep sinkhole opened up in Mexico, sending panicked residents fleeing from the area
The sinkhole appeared in a field in Santa Maria Zacatepec, state of Puebla, Mexico, on Saturday
Aerial view of a sinkhole that was found by farmers in a field of crops in Santa Maria Zacatepec, state of Puebla, Mexico on May 30, above and below
Mexican authorities say the sinkhole was caused by a geological fault and variations in the soil’s water content.
However, local activists say the phenomenon was the result of the overuse of aquifers in the region.
The giant sinkhole that was expanding by dozens of meters each day alarmed residents in the rural area of central Mexico where it was threatening to swallow a house.
When the Sanchez family heard a loud crash on Saturday they first thought that it was a lightning strike.
The sinkhole appeared in a field in Santa Maria Zacatepec, state of Puebla, Mexico, on Saturday
The giant sinkhole that was expanding by dozens of meters each day alarmed residents in the rural area of central Mexico where it was threatening to swallow a house.
But they soon discovered that the ground had collapsed just meters from their home in a field in Santa Maria Zacatepec in the state of Puebla.
The hole, which is full of water, was about nearly 100 feet wide by Sunday.
It rapidly grew to 200 feet on Monday and around 300 feet on Tuesday, the authorities said, coming perilously close to the house of the Sanchez family, who fear they will be left homeless.
‘We have nothing. We’re not from here. We have no relatives. We’re alone,’ Heriberto Sanchez, originally from the southeastern state of Veracruz, told the media.
Aerial view of a sinkhole that was found by farmers in a field of crops in Santa Maria Zacatepec, state of Puebla, Mexico on June 1
Aerial view of a sinkhole that was found by farmers in a field of crops in Santa Maria Zacatepec, state of Puebla, Mexico on June 1
Scientists and the authorities were considering hypotheses including a geological fault or variations in the soil’s water content as the possible causes.
As the sinkhole has grown, large chunks of earth continually have broken away from the rim, scaring off onlookers approaching a security cordon set up by the authorities.
‘It will grow until nature decides, when the water stops exerting pressure,’ Puebla state governor Miguel Barbosa said.
‘The important thing now is public safety,’ he said, adding that the authorities would compensate those affected.