The colossal sinkhole in Mexico has gotten even bigger and new reports show that the farmhouse next to it has now been swallowed.
House succumbs to Puebla sinkhole as the huge pit continues to grow. https://t.co/EV1sKlVBQb pic.twitter.com/UR7qdzKIn6
— Mexico News Daily (@mexicond) June 14, 2021
The 400-foot-wide, 60-foot-deep sinkhole located in Santa María Zacatepec, a small town in the southwestern part of Mexico, was first noticed on May 29th by the family living in the farmhouse.
The family said they woke up in the middle of the night to something that sounded like fireworks going off. After looking outside, the family said they saw it was the ground that was actually moving.
“We thought it was fireworks, but we looked outside and saw the earth moving and water coming up, like waves. We ran,” Magdalena Xalamihua, the person who lived in the farm house told El Pais.
Giant sinkhole is swallowing farmland in central Mexico’s Puebla state pic.twitter.com/2nGfvgL4PV
— TRT World Now (@TRTWorldNow) June 3, 2021
Authorities were notified and the Mexican military was sent in to guard the hole to keep people from getting dangerously close. However, that didn’t stop two dogs that were playing next to the pit and fell in. The dogs were stranded on an unstable cliff for four days until a rescue team could get down there and save them.
The remaining 2 dogs have finally been rescued from this sinkhole in Puebla, Mexico! pic.twitter.com/exl24GOm27
— Esther ten Wolthuis (@Eire353) June 16, 2021
When the dogs were rescued, the farmhouse was still on solid ground. However, a few days later the sinkhole finally engulfed the home into its depths. The family had been living on the property for a little over a year and, within no time, lost their home and crop field.
#Nature ? Sono comparse enormi voragini nello stato di #Puebla, in Messico.
Questa enorme voragine, un sinkhole, è comparsa presso Santa Maria Zacatepec. Il sovrasfruttamento dell’acquifero ? potrebbe essere all’origine del fenomeno di collasso del suolo. pic.twitter.com/IVIvpSYAuk
— Meteored Italia (@meteoredit) June 7, 2021
Fortunately, the mayor of the city stepped in to help them by compensating them with a new piece of land and a new home that will be built by the Mexican government.
According to Unilad, the mayor said, “The meeting with those affected by the sinkhole was agile, active and direct. The agreements include that the municipality will grant a piece of land and the state government will pay for the construction of a house; in terms of land and crops, the cost and the way to compensate will be evaluated.”
The Mexican authorities are still looking into what could have possible caused the sinkhole in the first place. So far, they believe it could have happened due to an underground river, or potentially from people extracting groundwater making the soil soften.
Footage Of Massive Sinkhole Below
Below is 12 hours of drone footage showing what the sinkhole looks like up close and personal so you can get a good look from all the angles. Skip through the video and check out some of the footage that was taken.