Thousands of Mexicans were astonished when they woke up to discover their local river had vanished overnight.

The Atoyac River, the sole source of water for 10,000 in the state of Veracruz, is thought to have disappeared into a crevasse following an earthquake tremor.

It is unclear how much of the river, which crosses eight municipalities in the mountainous area of central Mexico, was affected by the suspected sinkhole.

Residents of San Fermin, in Veracruz state, woke up to find their local river had dried up (pictured) overnight

It is unclear how much of the Atoyca river (file photo) was affected by the suspected sinkhole

The river, which flows through eight municipalities in a mountainous area of central Mexico, is thought to have vanished into a crevasse (pictured)

Residents of San Fermin, where the crack opened up, claimed to have heard a loud noise and feeling the whole earth trembling beneath them during the night.

Local woman Juana Sanchez said: 'First we realised that the taps were not running so we went to look and saw a crevasse in the riverbed where the water was vanishing instead of going its normal course.'

Civil Protection officers were called out and found that the crevasse was around 30 metres (100ft) long.

The director of Emergencies for Civil Protection, Ricardo Maza Limon, confirmed the crevasse had been caused by a 'geological fracture'.

Local officials said in a statement: 'These cracks open in the land and continue to open and create more cracks.'

It is unclear how much of the river (pictured) was affected by the 30m long suspected sinkhole

Locals claimed to have heard a loud noise and feeling the whole earth trembling beneath them

The crack starts around 1.8 miles from the source of the river which supplies water to thousands of families, as well as the sugar plantations which provide most locals' income.

The Atoyac also feeds into the larger Cotaxtla River which authorities report is also much lower than usual due to the sinkhole.

Limon told locals they are working with the National Water Commission (CONAGUA) to 'carry out a scientific investigation'.