Sinkhole, 12m deep and 80cm in diameter, forms at Guatemala City home of 65-year-old Inocenta Hernandez

This article is more than 9 years old

This article is more than 9 years old

You may sometimes wish the ground would swallow you up, but for some the danger of disappearing down a deep hole is all too real.

The people of Guatemala City are increasingly unable to trust what's beneath their feet because of treacherous sinkholes.

The latest person to get a shock was 65-year-old Inocenta Hernandez. "When we heard the loud boom we thought a gas canister from a neighbouring home had exploded, or there had been a crash on the street.

"We rushed out to look and saw nothing. A gentleman told me that the noise came from my house, and we searched until we found it under my bed."

A reporter for AFP news agency who visited her home, estimated the hole, which appeared late on Monday, was 12.2m (40ft) deep and 80cm (32inches) in diameter.

"Thank God there are only material damages, because my grandchildren were running around the house, into that room and out to the patio," said Hernandez.

Others have not been so lucky. A giant sinkhole that formed nearby in 2007 was 150m deep and swallowed several homes and a truck, killing three people. Local residents were forced to evacuate for days.

A 2010 sinkhole also in the same area measuring 20m wide and about 30m deep swallowed a three-story building and a nearby house.

Police, members of the country's natural disaster office and water utility company officials have all visited the scene of the latest hole.

Sinkholes, formed by natural erosion, can be gradual but are often sudden. Guatemala City is built on volcanic deposits and especially prone to sinkholes. They are often blamed on leaky sewers or on heavy rain.