Residents live in fear as sinkhole threats to collapse building in Chile

Record ID: 1823418

  • Title: Residents live in fear as sinkhole threats to collapse building in Chile
  • Date: 15th June 2024
  • Summary: VINA DEL MAR, VALPARAISO, CHILE (JUNE 15, 2024) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF SINKHOLE AT FOOT OF APARTMENT BUILDING WORKERS REMOVING EARTH FROM SINKHOLE COLLAPSEDWATER COLLECTOR PIPE EXCAVATOR REMOVING EARTH VARIOUS OF EARTH SURROUNDING CARS IN CAR PARK MANAGER OF AFFECTED BUILDING, LIDIER HERNANDEZ, FILMING EXCAVATOR (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) MANAGER OF AFFECTED BUILDING, LIDIER HERN
  • Embargoed: 29th June 2024 22:35
  • Keywords: Chile atmospheric river building collapse disaster dune rain sinkhole
  • Location: VINA DEL MAR, VALPARAISO, CHILE
  • City: VINA DEL MAR, VALPARAISO, CHILE
  • Country: Chile
  • Topics: Disaster/Accidents,Floods,South America / Central America
  • Reuters ID: LVA001109615062024RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Residents of a Chilean coastal spa resort live in fear of their homes collapsing after a sinkhole opened up at the foot of an apartment building after heavy rain battered the South American country,.
    In the Pacific Ocean-facing Vina del Mar, 87 residents of the apartment building complex Euromarina II were evacuated after a sinkhole measuring 15 metres wide and 30 metres deep opened up on June 8.
    The causes of the sinkhole are under investigation, local media reported, with experts citing a number of different factors, including the collapse of an underground water collector following the heavy rain.
    But they have also highlighted the fact the towers of the apartment complex were originally built upon a fragile dune system - a factor local fisherman Juan Ceron, who lives in nearby housing further down the hillside, feels played a major part in the sinkhole's formation.
    Chile was battered over the past week by a cold front associated with an atmospheric river storm, a vast airborne current of dense moisture carried aloft from the Pacific and dumped on land as heavy precipitation, according to local media.
    Over 11,000 people have suffered property damage, over 700 were sheltered, two injured and one killed, according to the disaster prevention service Senapred.
    Sinkholes have threatened residential buildings in Vina del Mar in the past.
    In August 2023, a sinkhole kept residents of a building near the Euromarina II away from their homes for months, according to local media.
    A month later, a similar situation affected residents of another building in the area.
    (Production: Rodrigo Gutierrez, Anna Portella)
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2024. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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