A HOLE NEW WORLD. A sinkhole appears in barangay Banhigan, Badian town after the storm. (CDN PHOTO/ TONEE DESPOJO)
The sinkhole in Badian town, south Cebu, continues to grow wider.
It was already 12 meters wide yesterday, said Eddie Llamedo, information officer of the regional office of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR-7).
The sinkhole was only five meters wide and 10 meters deep when discovered Thursday.
“Our recommendation is to keep the 70 to 100 meter radius a no-build zone until we are able to determine the extent of the sinkhole through the use of a ground penetrating radar (GPR),” he said.
Llamedo said the area in sitio Curva where the sinkhole was found remains unsafe for human occupancy for now.
Geologists from the regional office of the DENR Mines and Geosciences Board visited sitio Curva Thursday afternoon to inspect the sinkhole.
“(But) we need the GPR to be requested at MGB Manila so we can start the survey as soon as possible. We need to know if the nearby areas also have sinkholes,” said Llamedo.
Residents of sitio Curva heard a crash at 6 a.m. Thursday and discovered that part of the barangay road had collapsed. The road is mostly used by light vehicles and motorcycles.
At least nine structures are located 20-meters away from the sinkhole.
It could be attributed to the prolonged and intense rains for tropical depression Queeni, said Llamedo. Sinkholes could be triggered by heavy rains and earthquake.
He said that soil type in sitio Curva, a combination of limestone and clay, easily absorbs water .
“The surface or the crown could no longer stand or hold the weight of an over saturated soil and eventually collapsed,” Llamedo said.