A Mexican Family Felt The Earth Shake Beneath Their Feet – And What Happened Next Is Terrifying

Where and when did this all happen, though? Well, the shocking incident took place towards the end of May 2021 in Santa María Zacatepec, Mexico. But while the hole’s emergence left the community baffled and a little shaken, one local family in particular were badly affected by it.

A member of the clan recalled their experience from that fateful day. Her name is Magdalena Xalamihua, and she’d made a home in the area alongside her hubby and two kids. Sadly for the family, that blissfulness quickly turned into a nightmare when the ground began to give way.

Speaking to the El País newspaper in June 2021, Xalamihua said, “We heard something like a rumbling [in the air]. We thought it was fireworks, but we looked outside and saw the earth moving and water coming up – like waves. We ran.” Can you blame them? We’d probably do the same thing!

Anyway, since the hole first appeared in the ground, the situation has escalated at a truly dramatic pace. As a result of that, some jaw-dropping pictures of the area have been circulating online – showing the world what happened. And trust us, you won’t believe your eyes.

So, what were the people of Santa María Zacatepec actually dealing with here? The answer’s simple – it was a sinkhole. Now you’ve probably heard that term before, but don’t worry if you’re unaware of how they form or why the openings can get pretty scary. We’ve got you covered on this one.

Sinkholes are a largely organic curiosity, with most coming about due to the unhurried corrosion of the earth below. According to the St. Johns River Water Management District website, the vast majority of openings are likely to emerge in certain locations. And that’s down to the positioning of a substance called limestone.

Limestone is deeply rooted beneath sand and clay in the ground, but there are places where it’s closer to the top layer of earth. Once the substance starts to wear away, sinkholes will eventually appear in that area. Usually, though, it takes a millennia or so before that happens.

What causes the limestone to corrode, though? Well, the St. Johns River Water Management District website notes that when moisture trickles into the earth, it can mix with rotting plant life. Due to that process, a type of acidic water is formed as it continues to drip past the layers.

Then, as the corrosive moisture reaches the limestone, it begins to eat away at the substance. In turn, that creates hollow spaces in that only grow with time. If the ground overhead gives way and falls into the openings, you’re looking at a new sinkhole. Fascinating stuff, right?

Though that leaves us with an additional question: are there any other issues that can cause sinkholes? A lack of rain could lead to the problem, as well as sucking up large quantities of water from the soil. Plus, sudden downpours off the back of dry weather might add the required strain for a collapse, too.

And that’s not all. For instance, if a well gets built into the ground, that could inadvertently lead to the formation of a sinkhole. The same also can be said of man-made water holes. They might look like cool features, but is it worth the risk? After all, you only need to see the damage that sinkholes can create.

Here’s an example: back in November 2013 a sinkhole emerged next to a couple of properties in Florida. In the blink of an eye, the opening reportedly boasted a diameter and depth of 30 feet. It was huge! One of the buildings was partially sucked into it – alongside a speed boat and swimming pool.

Looking at the images, you’d think a tornado had hit the house, but nope! That destruction was caused by just one sinkhole. And while 30 feet is certainly big, larger openings have appeared across the world. They’re not all dangerous, either. Hard to believe, right? Anyway, one of them can be found in Oman.

The Bimmah Sinkhole reportedly has a depth of around 65 feet, with a diameter measuring over 130 feet. No houses were around to fall into this one, though. Instead, a staircase has been built down its side – leading people to a beautiful bed of water at the base. And to say it’s unique would be an understatement.

Yet no other sinkhole can touch the Qattara Depression. This monster is located in Cairo, Egypt, with a diameter of more than 74 miles and a length of nearly 50 miles. We’re serious! As for its depth, you’re looking at over 436 feet. It truly is one of the most remarkable sights on the planet.

The sinkhole that emerged in Santa María Zacatepec is nowhere near that size, but it still grew at a frightening rate. As per the Forbes website, it started out with a width of 16 feet. Within a few days, though, it expanded to 328 feet. That’s a crazy jump. And by late June 2021, the figure stood at over 406 feet.

Shocking numbers, wouldn’t you agree? To add to that, the Mexico News Daily website also reported that the sinkhole reached a depth of roughly 183 feet during that spell, too. But you want to know the most concerning part of all this? At the time, no one could put their finger on what caused it to happen.

Sure, there was plenty of speculation regarding the sinkhole’s shocking emergence, yet a cast-iron explanation wasn’t shared. For instance, the environmental secretary of Puebla – which houses Santa María Zacatepec – offered her thoughts to the press in June 2021. And she had a couple of ideas for the public to mull over.

Beatriz Manrique said, “We think that [the sinkhole’s formation] might be a combination of two factors. [It could be down to] the softening of the field, as the whole area was being cultivated, as well as the extraction of groundwater, which softens the subsoil.” Unsurprisingly, an investigation was launched to get to the bottom of the mystery.

Anyway, while all that was going on, people started to snap pictures of the growing sinkhole. Thanks to those shots, we can get a better idea of just how massive this thing really is. It’s devoured a huge chunk of the land – destroying a beautiful field. Yet that’s not the worst of it.

Remember the local family we spoke about earlier? Well, that building in the photos that was perilously hanging over the sinkhole’s edge was their house. It eventually fell into the opening a few days later, with an overhead camera capturing what was left. Sadly, there wasn’t much to speak of.

A single room and an outside wall stood alone, while the rest of the house sat smashed and broken at the sinkhole’s base. Just a few weeks before this, Magdalena Xalamihua’s clan marked their first anniversary at the property after securing the surrounding plot. It’s crazy how quickly things can change, right?

Speaking after the building collapsed, Xalamihua’s hubby Heriberto Sánchez informed the media, “We have nothing. We’re not from here. We have no relatives. We’re alone.” His partner also drove home that point during her chat with El País before it happened. She cried, “Where are we going to live now?”

You can’t help but feel for them. Then again, Xalamihua’s family weren’t the only people who were scared about the future. Local residents from the surrounding houses had their concerns as well. Given how quickly the sinkhole grew in just a matter of days, they couldn’t be blamed for that.

El País caught up with one of them near the ominous opening. Nicasio Torres admitted, “We worry that [the sinkhole] will continue to get bigger. What is going to happen to us? Are [the authorities] going to evacuate us? We don’t have anywhere to go!” Meanwhile, another guy reiterated those thoughts to the newspaper.

A man known only as Jorge said, “Where I live people are asking what is happening over here. They’re worried. We don’t know what to do. We can only wait and see what the authorities’ report says.” Speaking of which, let’s go back to that. Who was heading the investigation into the sinkhole’s cause?

Well, it was a collective effort. The Meritorious Autonomous University of Puebla sent a group of workers to take a look at the site, while another college got involved, too. Yep, the Metropolitan Autonomous University also threw its hat in the ring, with Delfino Hernández making up part of the specialist crew.

Hernández – who plies his trade as a geological engineer – spoke to El País prior to the group’s journey to Santa María Zacatepec in June 2021. During their talk, he offered his thoughts on what might’ve happened, and it differed from Manrique’s earlier assessment. He touched upon the state of the earth first.

“These faults are already present within the soil,” Hernández explained to the newspaper. “They may have existed for 5,000 to 10,000 years before being reactivated. It just needs nature to provide the impact so that they appear on the surface. This phenomenon, as far as I can see, was going to happen sooner or later.”

So, in Hernández’s opinion, this was potentially just like any other natural sinkhole. But what was the impact that prompted its dramatic arrival back in May 2021? Anything in particular? The expert believed that the answer might be found in the past. No, not thousands of years ago! Instead, he referred to more recent times.

Hernández continued, “Puebla State commonly has earthquakes that occur before they reach Mexico City. We don’t know with certainty if there were after-effects from the 2017 earthquake, but taking into account the size of the fracture, it could be that the soils have been weakened and it would only require humidity for them to become detached.”

That’s an intriguing suggestion, wouldn’t you agree? After all, nothing moves the ground more than an earthquake. Until Hernández and the rest of the experts could get a definitive result, though, it wasn’t anything other than a plausible piece of speculation. The real answers still needed to be found in the ruins of Xalamihua’s home.

Anyway, Hernández recognized that while speaking to the newspaper. And the geological specialist outlined what needed to happen next in Santa María Zacatepec. According to him, it was time to become proactive in solving the sinkhole mystery, as there could be more nasty surprises waiting for the local residents.

Hernández added, “What needs to be done is to stop looking at the sinkhole and start looking in the area surrounding it, to see if there are other fractures of a similar size or smaller ones. A study needs to be carried out immediately, cartographical mapping with aerial photographs and continuous monitoring to see if they are moving on a daily basis.”

Yet despite those potential dangers, that hasn’t stopped people from visiting the sinkhole. Instead, groups have continued to filter around it, taking the chance to catch a glimpse of the opening. It even got to the stage where the authorities needed to shut the nearby road in an attempt to stop vehicular congestion.

Who knows what a queue of cars could end up doing to an unpredictable section of the earth? We’d be wary! Mind you, while this spotlight was being cast over the area, Xalamihua’s anguish was only getting worse. You see, the constant attention served as a looming reminder of what happened to her clan.

Xalamihua had one last thing to say on the matter, telling El País, “It’s tough to take and it’s sad. Our whole life was [in that house].” But the mom received some much-needed good news towards the end of June 2021. As it turns out, officials in Puebla were willing to help them.

The mayor also went on to release a public statement. Miguel Barbosa 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.”

That must’ve been music to Xalamihua’s ears. And to cap it all off, she and everyone else found out the answer behind the sinkhole’s emergence in July 2021. The Mexican National Water Commission confirmed that eroded limestone had provoked the ground’s collapse, not “water extraction” – meaning this was an organic occurrence. Mystery solved. Still, no one’s going to forget about this story in a hurry!