Huge sinkholes swallow parts of houses and trees
14/09/2007 The Star By CHAN LI LEEN

IPOH: As earthquakes hit Sumatra, people here were hit with huge sinkholes that, in one case, swallowed parts of two houses.

Three separate incidents have been reported in the city here and nearby Batu Gajah since Wednesday night.

Big problem: Residents looking at the sinkhole outside Vimala’s house in Taman Kemajuan, Batu Gajah, yesterday. The hole swallowed the housewife’s old drumstick tree and five banana trees.

Housewife Lai Kooi Heong and her two children moved out of their house in Lorong Anandoo in Buntong here on Wednesday night.

A sinkhole measuring 3m deep and 9m wide swallowed the porch and part of the living rooms of their house and a vacant house next door.

“I’m staying with relatives across the road now,” said Lai, who estimated their losses at about RM70,000.

Lai, 47, was alone at home when the sinkhole appeared at 7.10pm, the same time that Sumatra was shaken by the first of three earthquakes.

A second sinkhole measuring 3m deep and 6m wide was reported an hour later at Taman Kemajuan in Batu Gajah, about 15km from here.

The hole that appeared outside housewife S. Vimala’s home swallowed her old drumstick tree and five banana trees.

Although the sinkhole was outside their house, Vimala and her family have moved out fearing for their safety.

Officers from the state Mineral and Geoscience Department have taken a soil sample for study.

Widow Naginah Hatun Shah Marib, 55, was shocked to discover a big gaping hole in front of her house at Kampung Dato Ahmad Said in Jelapang here at 7am yesterday, just before the big tremor hit Jambi in Indonesia.

“I was on my way to the surau,” she related.

“The hole is getting bigger and deeper and I’m afraid it will slowly reach my house.

“I’ve lived here for 35 years and have not seen anything like this around here,” added Naginah, who lives alone.