Emergency services in Pennsylvania have lost hope of finding alive a 64-year-old grandmother who fell into a sinkhole as she was looking for her cat.

Steve Limani, a spokesman for the Pennsylvania state police, said on Wednesday that the operation had moved from a rescue to a recovery status.

The department is certain the woman is in the hole, but due to the oxygen supply and the conditions there, it is assumed she is no longer alive.

Authorities believe the woman fell into a suddenly opened sinkhole in the ground on Monday afternoon while looking for her cat Pepper.

Her family called police hours later just as emergency personnel found the woman’s car with her five-year-old granddaughter in it unharmed.

Officers then came across the hole in the ground, which was about the size of a manhole cover.

It is presumably the entrance to an old mine shaft – a remnant of extensive coal mining in the area.

According to reports, the hole is around 10 metres deep and expands below the surface of the earth.

According to the U.S. Geological Service, a sinkhole is a closed natural lowering in the ground caused by either material being removed from below the ground or a gradual eating away of the surface.

They are common in areas that have been mined.

The USGS said sinkholes in the U.S. over the past 15 years have produced at least $300 million in damages annually.

The agency said that data for the number of sinkhole collapses in the U.S. is unavailable because it is not recorded.

(dpa/NAN)