America’s deadly phenomenon: The sinkholes that have swallowed homes, cars and businesses across the country

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER

PUBLISHED: 03:44 GMT, 2 March 2013 | UPDATED: 13:43 GMT, 2 March 2013

Police are still investigating what caused a 100-foot-wide sinkhole in Florida that killed a man when the ground disappeared beneath his house.

The fear of looming danger is real and present all over the globe, and pictures of the terrifying holes that appear seemingly unannounced and leave a trail of bodies and damage in their wake.

Officially sink holes are caused by the dissolution of soluble bedrock and the frequency and likelihood of such changes occurring depends on a number of natural factors like the type of rock present and the weather conditions in the area.

Unexpected: Sinkholes are caused by the sudden dissolution of soluble materials underground causing holes without warning that can lead to obvious damage- like the case in this Hudson, Florida home last year

Terrifying: This particularly deep hole occurred in the middle of downtown Guatemala City in 2010 and the change in grown stability is thought to have been a result of tropical storm Agatha

Aftermath: Two Los Angeles city workers look over a sinkhole on Tujunga Avenue in the Sun Valley area of Los Angeles, caused by heavy rains in February 2005

The dangerous holes can range from three feet to 2,000 feet wide, appearing either to be just a pothole or effectively gobbling up multiple city blocks.

One of the hardest-hit areas, both lately and over the past few years has been Florida where much of the state is made up of more soluble foundations.

Dealing with disaster: A parking lot in Atlanta, Georgia was the scene of one such sinkhole in 1993

Fearless: These intrepid teenagers and neighbors were unafraid of the edge of the sinkhole in Duluth, Minnesota that came after a flash flood of 9-inches of rain the night before

When the experts are at a loss: This picture of a Los Angeles fire truck being pulled into a sinkhole shows that even emergency workers need help sometimes as four fire fighters were able to escape after the crash

Natural disaster: A large sinkhole at a former intersection in Richmond, Virginia after Hurricane Gaston hit the east coast in 2004

Scary: An elderly couple, who had lived in this home in Tarpon Springs, Florida since 1957, were with relatives when the ground suddenly opened up in their yard and a 50-foot-deep hole appeared in April 2011

In lucky cases, the sinkholes appear in unpopulated areas like golf courses, but the truly harrowing times come when the fatal accidents happen near- or even under- homes. 

One such case is that of Jeff Bush, 37, who is presumed dead after he was swallowed into the 50-foot-deep hole and trapped beneath the rubble at his family's house in Brandon, near Tampa, Florida on Thursday night.

FULL STORY + MORE PICS: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2286909/Sinkholes-swallowed...