South of the Mexican border lies a country so wonderfully beautiful with eye bounding scenery ranging from mist-veiled mountains to brilliant colors of the green jungles to the vivacious and vivid blue of the waterfalls. Stepping into this land feels like being away from the world into the heavens.
But the country has it’s own share of wrath of god. Although the scenic beauty seems calm and peace giving from the outside, it’s not actually so from the inside. In the past few years the place has witnessed rage of the water, land and fire gods. Here is a brief history of the most disastrous hazards happened in Guatemala so far.
1. The Giant Sinkhole – On may 31, 2010, tropical storm Agatha that brought heavy torrential rains caused massive flooding and mudslides sweeping away sections of roads and bridges. The same caused a sinkhole 20m wide and 204 feet that killed three people and swallowed a three storey building in Guatemala city.
2. The Storm Agatha – On 29 May, 2010, Agatha storm that caused the giant sinkhole is Pacific’s first named storm of the season. With wind speed of 40mph, the storm hit the west coast bringing heavy rains even after the storm died.
3. Pacaya Volcano Erupts – On may 27, 2010, Guatemala’s Pacaya Volcano erupted pumping out lava and debris about 1500 feet into the air. The “Lava Bomb” killed two people including a TV reporter. 2000 people were forced to leave their homes fearing the aftermath.
4. Earthquake 6.2 – An earthquake 6.2 in magnitude rocked the west of Guatemala City, Guatemala on may 4, 2010 at 11:21 AM local time. There were no news reports of major damage or death.
5. Earthquake 5.3 – The USGS said that an earthquake of magnitude 5.3 had struck Guatemala on March 20,2010. The temblor hit about 60 miles from the country’s border with Mexico. The quake followed a higher version earlier the same day, a 5.6 earthquake that struck Guantanamo, Cuba.
6. Earthquake 6.1 – Another earthquake had hit an year ago on may 3, 2009, 40 miles on the west of Guatemala city.
7. Earthquake 7.5 – A more superior quake had hit Montague Fault around 160 Km northeast of Guatemala city in 1976 where it measured 7.5 on Richter scale.