Sinkhole sends 80 Cebu families to evacuation centers

CEBU CITY—At least 80 families were evacuated on Saturday after a sinkhole was found in Sitio Dapdap, Barangay Langub on Kinatarkan Islet, which is located off mainland Sta. Fe town on  Bantayan Island, northern Cebu province.

Sta. Fe Mayor Jose Esgana said he had coordinated with Lorto Alburo, Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) head, and requested the checking of the sinkhole.

To prevent any untoward incident, Esgana said the 80 families who lived within the 200-meter radius from the sinkhole were evacuated.

At least 200 families live in Dapdap.

Esgana said the sinkhole started small, or about 0.61 to 0.91 meters in diameter, when it was first seen on Friday night.

Barangay workers placed stones around it to serve as a marker  but on Saturday morning, the  stones fell into the hole, indicating that it had grown bigger, said Esgana.

As of 5 p.m. on Saturday, the sinkhole measured about

12.2 meters in diameter and at least 40 meters deep.

In a statement, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) in Central Visayas said the agency was sending Al Emil Berador, head of the MGB’s geosciences division, to Kinatarkan Island to conduct a site assessment.

Until then, DENR officials have asked local officials to fence the area around the sinkhole and put up warning signs to prevent accidents.

Barangay officials were also advised to continue monitoring any increase in size of the sinkhole and clear the area of occupants.

“Sinkholes are common where the rock below the land surface is limestone [or] carbonated rock, rocks that can naturally be dissolved by circulating ground water. As the rock dissolves, spaces and caverns develop underground,” the DENR statement said.

“I strongly advise  local government officials to strictly [prevent]  people [from going] near the sinkhole, as we are still determining the extent of its formation,” said Alburo.

The MGB in Central Visayas has identified 205 sinkholes in Cebu and Bohol provinces since the two provinces were hit by a 7.2-magnitude earthquake on Oct. 15, 2013.