While the Guatemalans are wondering if the giant sinkhole formed on June 1 in their capital city is an isolated case, on the other side of the globe, the Chinese have discovered at least eight sinkholes that suddenly formed in the past two weeks across their country, and many more have appeared during the past two months.
The latest known sinkhole formed at 12:25 a.m. Beijing time on June 4, in the middle of a freeway in Zhejiang Province on the nation’s eastern coast. The sinkhole measured 20 feet deep and 27 feet wide.
The hole occurred when a light truck drove over the spot. The truck rolled over when its rear wheels were caught at the edge of the hole. The slightly injured driver climbed out and stopped traffic when he saw the giant hole. Police arrived within 10 minutes and blocked the road.
A spokesperson for the local freeway management office said experts on site suspected that the sudden collapse of an underground karst cave created by eroded limestone caused the sinkhole, but the investigation is ongoing.
Later the same day, about 300 miles west in Nanchang City, capital Jiangxi Province, a moving car was trapped when a hole about the size of the car suddenly opened up on a main road.
On June 3, four huge sinkholes opened up in Guangxi Province where a torrential storm was raging. According to Chinese state media reports, more than 600 villagers had to be evacuated because of them.
Three smaller holes were found between May 27 and May 30 in southwestern Sichuan Province, less than 80 miles from the Wenchuan epicenter of the deadly May 2008 Sichuan earthquake that killed approximately 80,000 people.
In Yibin City about 260 miles from the earthquake’s epicenter, 26 larger sinkholes have formed since April 27.
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