A sinkhole of 40 feet deep appeared beneath a women’s bed in Guatemala City. The sinkhole that appeared late on Monday was 12.2 metres (40 feet) deep and 80 centimetres (32 inches) in diameter. Guatemala City, built on volcanic deposits, is especially prone to sinkholes. Sinkholes are natural depressions in the earth that can range anywhere from a few feet to hundreds of acres wide, and measure a shallow foot to 100 feet deep.

“When we heard the loud boom we thought a gas canister from a neighboring home had exploded, or there had been a crash on the street,” said Inocenta Hernandez, a 65 year-old widow. “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,” said Hernandez.

In May 2010, a sinkhole about 60 feet across and 100 feet deep opened in the area, swallowing buildings and an intersection. In 2007, another sinkhole claimed three lives in Barrio San Antonio in Guatemala City.

Hernandez told AFP that she is thankful the surprise under her bed wasn’t any bigger.

“Thank God there are only material damages, because my grandchildren were running around the house, into that room and out to the patio,” AFP quoted her as saying.

A Texas-sized pit opened up in the town of Daisetta, Texas in 2008. The 600 feet long, 150 feet wide gaping sinkhole sucked down a tractor, several telephone poles, and an assortment of oil field equipment.

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