A house on the edge of the abyss: the impressive image of the sinkhole that a geological fault has caused in Mexico

A geological fault has caused a huge sinkhole whose diameter has been growing in the state of Puebla, in central Mexico, according to the first investigations by the authorities.

“It is a matter of enormous risk. I tell the people of Puebla and the people of the region that we are going to be aware that there are no human tragedies. It is a geological fault that must be dealt with very carefully, with technique and with all the precautions and we are doing it,” explained the governor of the state of Puebla, Miguel Barbosa, at a press conference on Monday..

For her part, the Secretary of the Environment of Puebla, Beatriz Manrique, explained that the hole began to be created last Saturday, being no more than five meters in diameter, and in 24 hours it grew to 30 meters..

As Manrique explained, a few hours ago it already reached 60 meters in diameter and Twitter users shared videos in which it is seen that it continues to grow as part of the edges fall off and fall to the bottom, where there is a large amount of water.. According to local media, the depth of the sinkhole would be about 20 meters.

The landslide occurred on cultivated land in the municipality of Juan C.. Bonilla, a little more than 20 kilometers from the capital Puebla, in an area where there are only a few small and humble houses of the people who work the crops.

The secretary explained that it is still early to know the reasons for the creation of the sinkhole. He mentioned that in the area there was a “jagüey” -well or ditch filled with water- that was covered to locate farmland..

“There may have been a softening of farmland and extraction of aquifers. And when the pressure of the water in the surface layer was greater than that of the soil, a variation was generated and the weight on the earth's crust, which ended up yielding,” he explained..

Civil Protection of Puebla traveled to the area along with other authorities to make sure that no one comes close and there are no risks. “Given the formation of a sinkhole in farmlands of Santa María Zacatepec, in Juan C. Bonilla, Secretary of the Interior of Puebla, through this coordination, urges the population NOT to approach the place in order to avoid accidents,” wrote the State Civil Protection on Twitter.

For its part, Civil Protection Mexico shared in the same an image of the work that is being carried out in the place and detailed that work is being done to “mitigate the risk to the population”.

They added that a preventive evacuation of a house near the sinkhole was carried out and that a security fence of 500 meters around the hole is maintained.