Brazilian town hit by giant sinkhole, 1200 people fear for their homes

In the northeastern town of Buriticupu, Brazil, a series of massive sinkholes have appeared, threatening the homes of thousands of residents. The sinkholes are dangerously close to residential areas, prompting the local government to declare a state of emergency.

Located in the state of Maranhão in Brazil, Buriticupu has a population of around 55,000 people. As the sinkholes continue to expand, several buildings have already been destroyed, leaving approximately 1,200 people at risk of being displaced.

Authorities expressed concern in a recent emergency decree, stating that the sinkholes “have rapidly expanded in size over the past few months and are getting closer to residential areas.”

65-year-old local resident Antonia dos Anjos, who has lived in the area for 22 years, fears that more sinkholes will soon surface. She expressed, “The danger is right in front of us, and no one knows where the next big hole will appear.”

These sinkholes did not appear overnight but are the result of factors such as soil erosion due to rain, weak soil composition, deforestation, poor water and soil conservation practices, and construction activities over the past 30 years.

This type of large-scale soil erosion phenomenon in Brazil is known as “voçoroca,” a term derived from indigenous languages meaning “to tear the earth apart,” which is synonymous with sinkholes.

Over the past decade, one sinkhole in Buriticupu has already swallowed three streets and over fifty houses. Some streets have partially disappeared, and residents of homes bordering the sinkhole but still standing have been evacuated.

Marcelino Farias, a geographer and professor at the Federal University of Maranhao, warned that the problem will worsen with heavy rainfall.

Nazaré Feitosa, a safety technician living near the sinkholes, told Globo, a Brazilian television network, “It’s very scary. Sometimes, I pray to God not to let it rain that much, or even ask for His forgiveness.”

Another resident shared, “It’s terrifying when it rains; no one dares to sleep here. We stay awake all night, listening to the sounds of the ground collapsing. Sometimes, I get up to check if it’s happening near our home. If it is, we have to evacuate.”

Lucas Conceiçao, the Secretary of Public Works and an engineer in the area, criticized the government for apparently lacking the ability to find solutions to the complex sinkhole problem.

Similar incidents of massive sinkholes appearing on the ground have occurred in Brazil before. In 2017, a huge hole, with a diameter of over 20 meters, suddenly appeared in a field in Minas Gerais state.

Researchers at the Federal University of Uberlândia explained that such sinkholes are not caused by meteorites but are a result of soil subsidence in karst topography due to water erosion of limestone formations.