A second sinkhole has opened up in the town of Pinzán Morado in Guerrero State, Mexico, less than eight months after a similar event forced the abandonment of about 30 homes and two schools in the community. The hole, which opened up this week is about 500 m from the nearest building, and currently measures about 12 m across and 15 m deep, and therefore does not present an immediate threat, but there are concerns that it might behave in a similar way to the previous sinkhole, which opened up in June 2018 and grew to be about 40 m across and 100 m deep.
A sinkhole which opened up in the town of Pinzán Morado in Guerrero State, Mexico, this week. Mexico News Daily.
Sinkholes
are generally caused by water eroding soft limestone or unconsolidated
deposits from beneath, causing a hole that works its way upwards and
eventually opening spectacularly at the surface. Where there are
unconsolidated deposits at the surface they can infill from the sides,
apparently swallowing objects at the surface, including people, without
trace.
The sinkholes in Pinzán Morado have been linked to former mining activity in the area, particularly the Calentana gold and silver mine, which closed about four years ago after about 25 years of operation, with residents concerned that tunnels in the mine may be collapsing now they are no longer being actively maintained, undermining the ground above and causing sinkholes to appear at the surface.
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