Adam speculated on the last No Agenda that the sink hole was caused by a beam weapon in space. If true, it must be a truly remarkable weapon since it left the corner of a building untouched and hanging over the hole. It is odd, however, how round the hole is. Here’s a tad more reasonable explanation:

A sinkhole, 65 feet across and 100 feet deep, swallowed up a small factory and some telephone poles in Guatemala City last weekend. Police have been stationed around the hole to prevent bystanders from falling in, and those who live nearby are staying elsewhere for the time being. How do you fill a massive sinkhole in the middle of a major urban area?

With cement or rocks. Sinkholes develop when water flows through pores in bedrock and gradually enlarges them. When these subterranean cavities get big enough, the ground above collapses and fills them in. […] A 6,500-cubic-foot wad of concrete may serve to concentrate water runoff in other areas, leading to more sinkholes. Many engineers prefer the graded-filter technique, in which the hole is filled with a layer of boulders, then a layer of smaller rocks, and, finally, a layer of gravel. This fills the hole, more or less, while permitting water to drain through the area.

No matter what is used to fill the crater, more sinkholes are on the way. Guatemala City’s location and leaky sewage system make it particularly prone to these events. The capital lies downhill from seven major volcanoes, two of which are active members of the Pacific Ring of Fire. For hundreds of thousands of years, the gargantuan Amatitlan Caldera dumped volcanic ash on the ground where the city now sits. As a result, the local bedrock consists mostly of loose volcanic pumice. (Many cities sit atop volcanic deposits, but the ash from Amatitlan has not had the time or the appropriate pressure and temperature conditions to compress into a solid, reliable foundation.)

The correct answer as to who really caused this is either Obama or Bush, depending on your political proclivity.